Scrum Retrospectives SHOULD deliver improvement immediately.
If yours aren’t here are 4 tips to get there:
1. Hold them. Many teams skip the retro because they are too busy, too overwhelmed, too frustrated, or too anything else that should be addressed inside the retrospective.
2. Make them tactical. The end result of each retro needs to be agreement on at least one improvement the team can implement now.
3. No complaining without solutions. Make it a requirement to bring a solution to each problem. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it needs to be team focused to avoid finger-pointing. The team can help build a better solution in the retro, but not bringing one risks coming in with a complaint based mindset rather than a solution based one.
4. Publish and stick to results. Post the results in a shared team spot and refer back to them often. Confirm your team is implementing the plans made at each retro and hold members accountable. This will actually improve the retros going forward because the results of past retrospectives will be clear for all to see.
Cheers,
Joe
