Sprint retrospective meetings go hand in hand with agile methodology, and are an essential aspect of enhancing team performance within these methods. These meetings are a chance for you to carry out a sprint review and figure out what went well, and what could have been better. The result? Continuous improvement via lessons learned from past experiences that can be applied to future projects. Figuring out how best to hold these retro meetings can transform your team from week to week, so let's get straight into it.

What Is a Retro Discussion?

I explained briefly, but in more depth, a retro discussion, or retrospective, is a meeting where agile teams reflect on the most recent sprint or iteration. Your true goal for this interaction is to identify what went well, what didn’t, and therefore, how you can improve any processes involved. Self-reflection, feedback, and a willingness to adapt are all critical for continuous improvement, and are all ubiquitous within great sprint review meetings that drive real positive change to workflows.

What Are Retrospectives for Agile/Sprint Methodology?

Retrospective meetings are common for certain team working techniques. One of these techniques is agile methodology - here, retrospectives are regular meetings held at the end of each sprint (week). These meetings provide a structured opportunity for the team to reflect on their work and processes. Retrospectives are fundamental to these frameworks, as the repetitive nature of this meeting promotes a culture of continuous improvement by creating feedback loops and encouraging the team to openly communicate.

Importance of Retrospectives

A quick side note to clarify why you should bother with sprint planning and retrospective meetings post-sprint. According to the 14th Annual State of Agile Report, 97% of respondents said that agile helps improve project predictability, and 85% said it improves team morale. Regular retrospectives are a key factor in these improvements, especially when teams begin to brainstorm and work out how to consistently fine-tune their work methods. Equally, your retro meeting gives you a point of reference, creating this predictability going into the next sprint/s.

On the note of predictability and meetings becoming a point of reference, I have a tip for improving your next retrospective meeting:

Leveraging Technology for Retrospective Meetings

Using technology effectively can change your retrospective meeting game. Tools like Bubbles Notetaker can be extremely useful, especially in virtual settings and meeting rooms. I reminded myself of this as I wrote about the importance of keeping a record of previous discussions and projecting predictability. Why? Well, Bubbles can automatically join your meetings, transcribe the conversations, record the sessions, and send you a tailored email post-meeting with specific action items. From my experience of using Bubbles in sprint review meetings, I found that no key points are missed across the entire team. Perhaps even more importantly, you are your team members gain a constant meeting recap with Bubbles, due to the automated follow-up emails, meaning there is always a clear understanding of responsibilities and what needs to be done.

Check Bubbles out for free, or follow the link below to find out more.

What Are the 5 Stages of a Retro?

Now that we have established what retros are and gone through a few tips, let's get into the nitty gritty of your retro meeting set-up. Effective retrospectives follow a structured format to ensure all relevant aspects are covered. The five stages of a retro are as follows:

1. Set the Stage: Often not needed once you have a consistent meeting in the calendar, but for first time retro goers, make sure to create a safe and open environment for all team members to share their thoughts.
2. Gather Data: Collect information from every party about what happened during their sprint. This can include quantitative data (if applicable to your business) and qualitative feedback. Try to combine quantitative data and qualitative feedback here for maximum output.
3. Find Insights: Analyze the data and try to identify patterns, issues, and areas for improvement.
4. Decide What to Do: Develop actionable items to address the identified issues and enhance strengths. Remember, if you use a tool like Bubbles, your action items will be determined and generated for you, saving you time and keeping you focused on the meeting.
5. Close the Retrospective: Summarize the meeting, recap the next steps, and express appreciation for the everyone's participation and effort in achieving improvement.

So, those are your 5 stages to remember when it comes to holding a great sprint retrospective. However, for me, there is one other stage that can often be forgotten - preparation. This is not to say that you need a full template or detailed whiteboard of notes, but doing at least some preparation before a sprint review meeting can be extremely impactful. Here are a few small ideas:

• Create a Meeting Agenda: Outline the topics to be discussed. Whether this is for your part or for everyone, this will improve your input. Check out our 7 key meeting agendas for inspiration. 
• Choose a Facilitator: This person is your scrum master and will guide the discussion, keeping everything on track.
• Set Up Tools: Whether you are using physical tools like whiteboards and sticky notes, or digital tools like Bubbles, make sure you have everything ready to go, so that you don't waste time.