Sprint Retrospective, structure and practical situations

Sprint Retrospective

The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective as per sprint guide 2020 is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness.

I'll share some practical situations and practices from my experience which may help teams, #scrummasters #agilecoaches

In case you are looking for ways to run a retrospective review the blog here 

In case of challenging situations, the scrum master must take charge of the situation and engage with the team innovatively.  Think out of the box. Experiment to fail because no two teams are the same. 

Do you encounter any of the following questions?

Situation 1. Shall we do a retrospective once in a few sprints or skip it❓

Here are some of the possible reasons:

a. The same old famous three questions are asked repeatedly in retrospectives and the team has lost interest.

b. Team is unable to find improvement areas as we are progressing well.

c. No actions are taken for the past retrospective next steps.

d. Team does not find it safe to raise improvements.

e. Team is overwhelmed with the next steps.

d. Opinions from few dictates. 

I would recommend Scrum Master take charge of the retrospective and perform the necessary steps to have a compelling retrospective and work with the team and focus on the below mindset

a. Why -  Focus on Improvement.

b. What - Focus on Action.

c. How -  Cadance.

2. Do we need to always run the retrospective every scrum❓

a. Don't be a Scrum Police, each team/individual has different dynamics.

b. Build the team first, and give them purpose, mission & goal.

c. Experiment, for example: play team-building games.

d. Improvement is a continuous process.

e. Make it a fun activity.

3. How do some mature teams run a retrospective❓

a. Scrum is an empirical process, the team adopts Transparency, Inspection & Adaptation.

b. Continuous Retrospective is visible during all scrum meetings and outside.

c. Leads (Including SM) challenge teams to identify improvements.

d. Capture improvements and build Transparency to celebrate.

e. Actions do not require follow-up by SMs.

f. Team influences other teams.

What are your top questions ❓❓ or challenges, send me a message or comment below 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼, and will be happy to engage and learn from your situation.