5 Phases of Agile Retrospectives

**By Moye Balogun**

Since
Agile retrospectives are supposed to be organized, well-structured meetings, they
are often run by a facilitator. The facilitator is someone outside of the group
such as an agile coach or a retrospective specialist (Rose). According to Doug
Rose’s seminar on Lynda.com, a book agile facilitators often use as a guideline
is “Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great.” This book lays out 5 phases
for Agile retrospectives: Start, Data Gathering, Insights, Decisions, and
Closing.

### **1. Start**

The start phase of an Agile
retrospective primarily focuses on setting team dynamics and making team
members comfortable. A team that is comfortable with each other is likely going
to be the team that is more honest about what ups and downs occurred in the
project. The start phase is also where one wants the team to feel as if
“they’re doing something new and different” (Rose). This comes about through
activities, which can vary greatly. A facilitator’s activity can be asking the
group to use post-it notes to write down what they wish to gain from the
retrospective (Rose). These notes will be saved to be read at the end of the
retrospective to see whether the meeting met the team’s expectations (Rose). Another
activity could be using drawings of weather patterns, such as “a thunderstorm,
rain, a cloudy [sky], and sunshine,” and asking the group to stick a post-it
note under the weather pattern that they feel represents how well the last
sprint went (Moon). No matter how they are done specifically, these activities
should prepare the team for the more detailed discussions to come later in the
retrospective (Moon).

### **2. Data Gathering**

The data gathering phase is where
the facilitator wants to delve into the specific details of the sprint that
just finished. The facilitator will once again use exercises in hopes of
establishing the agenda. One common way is by using charts, such as the
Starfish diagram (Rose).

With
this chart (whose lines resemble a starfish), the team will pinpoint different
actions done or not done in the previous sprint and what they want to increase,
decrease, continue, discontinue, start, or stop doing. The purpose of the
diagram is to show the team how they can improve in many of the even daily
events of the sprint, such as stand-up meetings (Rose). Based on the feedback
gathered from the Starfish diagram, the facilitator might move on to ask the
team to develop some SMART goals (Rose). SMART goals are “Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Boxed” (Rose).

A
challenge that presents itself in the data gathering phase is ensuring that all
the team members understand the events that took place (Rose). To do this, the
facilitator should group together the feedback to come up with a perspective
that reflects each team member’s input.

### **3. Insights**

The insights phase is one of the
most important of the retrospective because it focuses on what the team can do
to be better, often by learning. The facilitator should point to the charts
they have and ask the group for the connections or patterns they see. In this
phase, the team should be gaining understanding of the challenges faced in the
last sprint and finding what problems are common amongst multiple members. For
instance, not just one person, but three people on the team feel as if the
instructions in the sprint should have been more specific, then the team needs
to take note and work to remedy this issue in the next sprint (Moon). Doing so
improves the sprint process for everyone.

### **4. Decisions**

The decisions phase is also very
important because it often ends up being the step most overlooked (Moon). Teams
will have thorough, insightful conversations in the previous phases, yet not
actually follow through with any of their planning (Moon). One way to ensure
that this does not happen is by “creating very clear action items” (Rose). The
team will break down the challenges previously highlighted, create action
items, and then specifically plan out how they intend to fix the issues (Rose).
Each group member should have a relatively equal amount of action items to
focus on (Rose).

### **5. Closing**

The closing phase is the final phase
of the retrospective. This is point where the facilitator will ask the group
whether the retrospective met their expectations and if there were any issues
with the meeting. Based on the team’s feedback, the facilitator will take notes
and alter how the retrospectives are conducted in the future (Rose). The
retrospective should end on a positive note and the team should be encouraged
as well as left with the sense that they have been productive.

**Works Cited**

Moon,
Lauren. “5 Steps To Better Agile
Retrospectives.” *Across The*
Board, *26 Aug. 2015,*
blog.trello.com/the-5-steps-to-better-team-retrospectives.

Rose, Doug. “Five Phases
of Retrospectives.” *Lynda.com - from LinkedIn*, 4 Feb. 2016, www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Five-phases-retrospectives/175961/468238-4.html.

**Image Courtesy**

https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/articles/2016/may/agile-retrospectives