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name: retrospectives description: Master sprint retrospectives with various formats, action planning, and continuous improvement techniques for team effectiveness.

Sprint Retrospectives

Facilitate effective retrospectives that drive continuous improvement through honest reflection and actionable commitments.

When to Use This Skill

• End of each sprint
• Team improvement
• Process optimization
• Relationship building
• Learning from mistakes
• Celebrating success
• Identifying patterns
• Cultural development

Core Concepts

1. Retrospective Formats

Start-Stop-Continue:

• Start: What should we begin doing?
• Stop: What should we stop doing?
• Continue: What's working well?

Mad-Sad-Glad:

• Mad: What frustrated us?
• Sad: What disappointed us?
• Glad: What made us happy?

4Ls:

• Liked: What went well?
• Learned: What did we discover?
• Lacked: What was missing?
• Longed for: What do we wish for?

Sailboat:

• Wind (helping): What's pushing us forward?
• Anchor (hindering): What's slowing us down?
• Island (goal): Where are we heading?
• Rocks (risks): What threats exist?

2. Retrospective Agenda (90 min)

Copy1. Set the Stage (5 min)
   - Safety check
   - Prime directive
   - Agenda overview

2. Gather Data (15 min)
   - Timeline of sprint
   - Metrics review
   - Individual reflection

3. Generate Insights (30 min)
   - Group discussion
   - Identify patterns
   - Vote on themes

4. Decide What to Do (30 min)
   - Brainstorm actions
   - Select 1-3 improvements
   - Assign owners
   - Define done

5. Close the Retro (10 min)
   - Summarize actions
   - Retro feedback
   - Appreciation

3. Action Items

Copy## Sprint 12 Retrospective Actions

**Action 1**: Improve code review turnaround
- Owner: Bob
- What: Review PRs within 4 hours
- Success: Average review time < 4hrs
- Due: Next sprint

**Action 2**: Reduce technical debt
- Owner: Team
- What: Allocate 20% capacity to refactoring
- Success: 10 story points per sprint
- Due: Ongoing

**Action 3**: Better documentation
- Owner: Alice
- What: Update README and API docs
- Success: New dev can onboard in 1 day
- Due: Sprint 13

Best Practices

1. Psychological safety - Prime directive, no blame
2. Vary the format - Keep it fresh
3. Focus on actionable - Concrete improvements
4. Limit action items - 1-3 maximum
5. Assign owners - Clear responsibility
6. Track progress - Review in next retro
7. Celebrate wins - Recognize achievements
8. Time-box activities - Keep moving

Resources

• Agile Retrospectives: Esther Derby & Diana Larsen
• Retromat.org: 100+ retrospective activities