Retros (short for retrospectives) are a tool used to reflect on sprints or projects. That said, the way in which you reflect on those milestones can leave your team feeling empowered and hopeful for the next one... or push them further into collective misery. This playbook is designed to help you tweak retro until it is a consistent and effective tool to move your team forward.
HEADS UP!
This playbook assumes you already know the basics of running a retro, but you can always check out The Retro Guide for more in-depth information about the building blocks and philosophy of an awesome retro.
When the team is new and still figuring things out
This is one of my favorite times to retro with teams. The point of retro is to give teams a forum to collectively shape how they want to work, and retro acts as a natural check-in point where we can keep moving forward or adjust course.
The Start Stop Continue format is my favorite for new teams!
It's a very simple format to run, and the action items are as clear as day. By using verbs as categories rather than adjectives, this format guarantees the team will think of (and leave with) actionable things they can do to make the next milestone even better.
The 4Ls format is another popular choice, though, in my experience, Lacked and Longed For tend to be a bit blurry for most teams.
When the team is trying new things and iterating
Adopted a new process? Started using a new tool? Retro is the place to talk about it!
If you are adjusting to change, the What Went Well / Didn't Go Well format is a great way to identify where the pain points are and where the wins are. Rather than focusing on the change itself, encourage the team to get specific about which features or workflows are impacting them for better or for worse.
The 4Ls format is also viable here if you want to emphasize the things you learned or areas in which the tool or process may need to continue to evolve.
If you bit off a lot all at once, consider Start Stop Continue which is incredibly actionable and can isolate exactly which levers the team wants to adjust.
When the team is frustrated by things outside their control
Sometimes you can't change what you can't change.
After getting those off your chest with a Mad Sad Glad retro, it can be healthy to shift the energy away from feeling helpless to the powers that be and instead focus on the little things that brought you joy despite them.
The Mario Kart format really shines here, and I find that it encourages teams to celebrate their wins and shout out their teammates. It's also just fun, and who doesn't need a little fun when the world feels like it's on fire?
BONUS POINTS: Follow the retro with a Mario Kart tournament if you have a few Nintendo fans on the team!
When the same few people speak up every retro
This might be a great opportunity to poll (anonymously) your team and see if anonymity is something they value in their retros. Some teams need it and others have such high trust levels that they really don't mind having their name on their items.
If your team is comfortable sharing which things are theirs, you can take virtually any format and, for each category, ask if people would like to share theirs - being mindful to call on the people that have not shared in a while.
Otherwise, the Mario Kart format is a fun format to run, and there are no categories! Each team member goes in order, sharing the wins and losses from their point of view, ensuring everyone is heard - even if only for a moment.
When using this format, I often don't set a timer so people do not feel rushed and save the more vocal contributors for last to ensure that they don't take up a disproportionate amount of time.
When emotions are high or people just want to feel heard
Sometimes things don't go your way for any number of reasons.
The Mad Sad Glad format is a healthy way to let teams vocalize their emotions without necessarily generating too many action items.
Yes, I get it. Retro is supposed to be about how you will move forward and get better, but sometimes you just need to let off a little steam with people who genuinely understand your experience. If not in retro, these conversations will happen in DMs or happy hours - they don't just go away. By collectively processing things and then moving on, the team can feel closure and start fresh for the next milestone.
When running a retro with this format, keeping the space safe is a balancing act. Giving people time to speak uninterrupted and acknowledging them is critical - this is NOT the time to negate people's experience or tell them to "just be positive".
That said, being mindful of emotional "dumping" and ensuring that the forum stays fairly blameless is also critical for the team's health and morale.
HEADS UP!
Be mindful of time with this format! If you spend all your time being Mad and Sad you will have to skip or rush through the Glad portion of the retro - a.k.a. the part that makes everyone feel good and find the silver lining. I like to allot 25% / 25% / 40% of the retro time to each category, respectively; the last 10% is usually spent starting the meeting and winding it down.
When the team tackled something new and rose to the occasion
The 4Ls format shines here because it has a not-so-secret superpower: Learned.
When using this format, I love to remind teams that Learned is not only for lessons learned but all the neat things that they discovered or figured out along the way, too!
When all else fails
The classic What Went Well / Didn't Go Well format is the easiest retro format to run and works in virtually every scenario.
When the team has retro down to a science
When the team has done a dozen or so retros and the energy in the room is healthy, supportive, and focused, I like to take my hands off the wheel a bit and empower the team to own it.
Two ways I do this are by asking for volunteers to host (or by reaching out to people I know would do a phenomenal job) and by allowing the team to pick their retro format with a poll.
Slack and Teams (among others) have plugins that allow you to poll your team - often times you can save the poll for reuse with an automation!
I like to accompany the poll with an explanation of various retro formats so people feel empowered to pick the most appropriate format for the experience they had, not just one that they've done before.