Continuing on from sharing some perspectives on sprint retros (see my earlier post), here are some simple guidelines to get you started on running better sessions with your team:
Celebrate what's great
Try to determine what is repeatable and sustainable.
Identify what to improve
Consider what (not who) is detracting.
Who
- Only the actual team members should be included in a sprint retro:
- The tech lead(s)/developers, designers, etc.
- The product owner and project manager/scrum master
- If there are client people who are actively working on the project (contributing to the sprint goal and the increment/work product), they can and should be included as well.
How
- Come prepared with talking points
- Someone from this group (a peer) should be able to facilitate
- prompt people
- record +s and –s
- encourage participation (not pass judgment or validate/invalidate the contributions)
- Try and propose a solution when identifying a problem
- Review past retro points and gauge progress
Remember... Team performance that continuously improves is the result of a team feeling accountable to each other!