1.
DAVID TZEMACH
MAR 12 2018
THE AGILE RETROSPECTIVE
MEETING, EVERYTHING YOU
MUST KNOW

2.
MOTIVATION
MANY TEAMS CAN WORK HARD TO ACCOMPLISH A
COMMON GOAL, BUT THE PROBLEM BEGINS ONCE
THEY CANNOT FIND A WAY TO IMPROVE, SO WORKING
HARD IS GREAT, BUT THE KEY TO MAJOR IMPROVEMENT
IS IMPROVING THE PROCESS OF "HOW" THE TEAM
WORKS...?
IN THE SCRUM FRAMEWORK, TEAMS CAN ANSWER
THAT QUESTION BY PERFORMING THE
"RETROSPECTIVE" MEETING AT THE END OF EACH
ITERATION, THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS MEETING IS TO
HELP THE TEAM GAIN AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT AFTER EACH ITERATION, AND
NOT JUST WORKING "HARDER".

3.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF AGILE RETROSPECTIVE?
THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING IS THE PLATFORM
WHICH ALLOWING THE TEAM TO DISCUSS AND
UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE THE
CURRENT PROCESS AND INCREASE THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR WORK.
"AT REGULAR INTERVALS, THE TEAM REFLECTS ON
HOW TO BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE, THEN TUNES
AND ADJUSTS ITS BEHAVIOR ACCORDINGLY."
THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING IS THE PLATFORM
WHICH ALLOWING THE TEAM TO DISCUSS AND
UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CAN IMPROVE THE
CURRENT PROCESS AND INCREASE THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR WORK.

4.
THE MISSING CONCEPT OF THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING
THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING IS USUALLY CARRIED ON THE
LAST DAY OF THE TWO WEEKS ITERATION, IN A MEETING THAT
TAKES ANYWHERE BETWEEN 30-90 MINUTES, THE MAIN ISSUE
THAT OCCUR IN MANY ORGANIZATIONS IS THAT THEY SEE THE
TIME SPENT ON THIS MEETING AS A WASTE OF TIME, BY THEIR
STATE OF MIND, THE TEAM SHOULD FOCUS ON THE PRODUCT
AND NOT REFLECTING HOW THEY WORK AND WHAT THEY DO
IN THE ITERATION TO DELIVER THE PRODUCT (THE TEAM IS JUST
TOO BUSY TO WASTE THEIR TIME IN SUCH MEETING).
THE RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ORGANIZATION
WILL FOLLOW THE AGILE MANIFESTO TO ALLOW THE TEAM TO
PERFORM A CONTINUES IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR WORK
PROCESS, IS ON THE PRODUCT OWNER AND SCRUM MASTER
THAT SHOULD VALIDATE THAT THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING
WILL GET A HIGH PRIORITY AND THAT IT’S ENFORCED ONCE THE
ORGANIZATION DECIDE TO IMPLEMENT THE AGILE
METHODOLOGY.

5.
THE BASIC PROCESS
1. THE SCRUM MASTER WILL REVIEW THE PROGRESS FROM
THE LAST RETRO MEETING.
2. THE SCRUM MASTER WILL ASK THE TEAM TO DETERMINE
THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF THE LAST ITERATION AND
WRITE IN ON A BOARD, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO
START WITH A POSITIVE START AND CELEBRATE THE
ITERATION ACHIEVEMENTS.
3. THE SCRUM MASTER WILL ASK THE TEAM TO DETERMINE
THE PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS OF THE LAST ITERATION
AND WRITE IT ON A BOARD (PRIORITIZED BY
IMPORTANCE).
4. THE TEAM WILL REVIEW THE BOARD ARTIFACTS AND
WILL SUGGEST WAYS TO IMPROVE THE PROBLEMATIC
ARTIFACTS.
5. THE SCRUM MASTER WILL DETERMINE WITH THE TEAM
THE ACTION ITEMS, OWNERS AND MITIGATION PLAN.

6.
SETTING-UP THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING
TO HELP THE TEAM MEMBERS TO BE ABLE TO SHARE THEIR
THOUGHTS, WE MUST MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDE THEM A
SAFE AND COMFORTABLE SPACE THAT WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR
THEM TO DISCUSS ABOUT THEIR INSIGHTS.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE SPACE FOR THIS MEETING:
1. MAKE SURE THAT THE ROOM IS COMFORTABLE FOR THE
PEOPLE ATTENDED.
2. TEAMS HAVE THE TENDENCY TO PERFORM BETTER IN
ROOMS THAT A WINDOWS AND NATURAL SUNLIGHT (IT
CAN BE IN A MEETING ROOM, COFFEE SHOP ETC.).
3. THE ROOM SHOULD HAVE A GOOD SPACE TO ALLOW THE
TEAM MEMBERS TO WALK AROUND (DO NOT CHOOSE A
SMALL PLACE THAT PEOPLE WILL FEEL LIKE THEY'RE IN A
CROWDED SITUATION).

7.
THE MAIN PHASES OF
THE RETROSPECTIVE
MEETING
There are a few good ways to perform the retrospective meeting, but the main key is to follow a few basic phases to
actually allow the team to share their thoughts and in the end to improve the work process in the next iteration, the main
phases and concepts that should be part from every retro meeting

8.
PHASE 1 – PROVIDE THE CONFIDENCE FOR THE TEAM
THE MAIN KEY FOR PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR REAL THOUGHTS IS TO PROVIDE THEM THE CONFIDENCE AND
SAFETY THAT THEY CAN SPEAK WITHOUT ANY OTHER PEOPLE JUDGING THEM, MANY RETROSPECTIVES ARE
DOOMED TO BE FAIL ONCE THE TEAM RESOURCES DOES NOT HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO SPEAK AND RAISE
THE REAL ISSUES THAT THEY SEE THROUGH THE ITERATION, SO THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT THING OF
THE RETROSPECTIVE MEETING IS TO HELP PEOPLE TO GAIN A REAL CONFIDENCE TO ALLOW THEM TO EXPRESS
AS THEY WANT.

9.
PHASE 2 – DATA GATHERING (RETROSPECTIVE AGENDA)
1. THE SCRUM MASTER WILL ASK THE TEAM TO
DETERMINE THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF THE
LAST ITERATION AND WRITE IN ON A
BOARD, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO START
WITH A POSITIVE START AND CELEBRATE THE
ITERATION ACHIEVEMENTS.
2. THE SCRUM MASTER WILL ASK THE TEAM TO
DETERMINE THE PROBLEMATIC ASPECTS OF
THE LAST ITERATION AND WRITE IN ON A
BOARD (PRIORITIZED BY IMPORTANCE).
3. THE TEAM WILL REVIEW THE BOARD
ARTIFACTS AND WILL SUGGEST WAYS TO
IMPROVE THE PROBLEMATIC ARTIFACTS.

10.
PHASE 3– SET THE GOALS
THE SCRUM MASTER AND TEAM WILL DETERMINE THE GOALS
FOLLOWING FIVE BASIC PRINCIPLES:
SPECIFIC – THE GOAL MUST BE SPECIFIC AND SET FOR
ADDRESSING A SINGLE ISSUE.
MEASURABLE – ONCE THE GOAL WAS SET, IT'S TIME TO SET THE
METRICS TO MEASURE IT, OTHERWISE HOW CAN WE ACTUALLY
GUARANTEE THAT THE GOAL WAS ACCOMPLISHED?
ACHIEVABLE – WHAT IS THE BENEFIT IN SETTING A GOAL THAT
YOU CANNOT ACHIEVE? TO ACTUALLY MAKE AN IMPROVEMENT,
WE MUST SET GOALS THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH.
REALISTIC – I WANT TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD! IS IT REALISTIC?
ANY GOAL YOU SET SHOULD BE REALISTIC TO THE ENVIRONMENT
AND TEAM, THERE IS NO POINT TO SET GOALS THAT ARE NOT
REALISTIC AND THEREFORE ARE NOT ACHIEVABLE.
TIME-BOXED – AFTER YOU SET A GOAL, MAKE SURE YOU SET A
TIME LIMIT TO ACCOMPLISH IT, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO VALIDATE
THAT YOU ADDRESS THE GOAL IN A TIME FRAME THAT WILL MAKE
THE DIFFERENCE IN THE NEXT SPRINTS.

11.
PHASE 4– APPLY ACTION ITEMS IN THE NEXT ITERATION (1)
ONCE THE TEAM SET THEIR GOALS, IT’S TIME TO
TRANSLATE THEM INTO REAL ACTION ITEMS THAT
THE TEAM WILL USE TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS.
NOW, TRANSLATING GOALS INTO ACTION ITEMS
CAN BE A CHALLENGING TASK EVENT FOR THE BEST
TEAMS, THE THREE MAIN CHALLENGES THAT YOU
SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO:
MORE DISCUSSION LESS ACTION ITEMS
THE TEAM CREATES AN ENDLESS DISCUSSION ABOUT EACH
ACTION ITEMS THAT CAUSE A DIVERSION FROM THE ORIGINAL
GOAL INSTEAD OF EXTRACTING REAL ACTION ITEMS,
THEREFORE THE FACILITATOR MUST VALIDATE THAT THE TEAM
FOCUSES ON IMPROVEMENT BY REDUCING ANY
CONVERSATION THAT IS NOT CONTRIBUTED TO THAT GOAL.

12.
PHASE 4– APPLY ACTION ITEMS IN THE NEXT ITERATION (2)
TOO MANY ACTION ITEMS LESS DISCUSSION
THE SECOND PROBLEM IS THAT THE TEAM WILL ONLY
FOCUS ON CREATING THE ACTION ITEMS INSTEAD OF
MAKING A SHORT DISCUSSION TO AGREE ABOUT THE
REAL SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM. TO REDUCE THIS
PROBLEM, IT'S THE FACILITATOR'S RESPONSIBILITY TO
CREATE A SHARED UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE
COMMON GOAL.
THE SCRUM MASTER AS SUPERMAN
THE THIRD PROBLEM OCCURS WHEN THE TEAM
DEPENDS TOO MUCH ON THE SCRUM MASTER, AND
THEREFORE TRUSTS HIM TO HANDLE ALL PROBLEMS
AND ACTION ITEMS, TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM, WE
WILL SHARE THE OWNERSHIP OF THE ACTION ITEMS ON
THE TEAM MEMBERS AS WE EXPECTED TO SEE IN SELF-
ORGANIZE TEAMS.

13.
PHASE 5 – OWNERSHIP AND FOLLOW-UP
EACH ACTION ITEM THAT IS RESOLVED WILL TAKE THE
TEAM ONE STEP FURTHER TO CONTINUES
IMPROVEMENT, AND THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING THAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE FROM THE
RETROSPECTIVE MEETING.
ONCE THE ACTION ITEMS ARE DETERMINED, THE NEXT
STEP IS TO ASSIGN THE OWNERS FOR EACH ACTION
ITEM, TO DO SO, THE FACILITATOR SHOULD ASK FOR
VOLUNTEERS TO HANDLE THE CHALLENGES (THE
FACILITATOR SHOULD NEVER ASSIGNEE THE OWNERS!),
THE MAIN IDEA IS THAT EACH TEAM MEMBER WILL
VOLUNTEER TO HANDLE AT LEAST ONE ACTION ITEM.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT THAT THE FACILITATOR
SHOULD HANDLE, ARE THE ACTION ITEMS THAT DO
NOT HAVE AN OWNER, ONCE HE RECOGNIZES SUCH
SCENARIO, HE SHOULD START A DISCUSSION WITH THE
TEAM TO UNDERSTAND WHY NO ONE WAS CLAIMED TO
OWNERSHIP.

14.
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