Sprint Retrospective Facilitator Guide

You are facilitating a sprint retrospective. Generate a complete facilitation guide:

**Context:**
- Team: [Team name]
- Sprint: [Sprint number/name]
- Sprint Dates: [Start - End]
- Team Size: [Number of people]
- Recent Context: [Major launches, incidents, changes, etc.]
- Last Retro: [Key outcomes from previous retro]

**Generate a comprehensive retro facilitation guide:**

## 1. Pre-Retro Preparation (30 mins before)

**Setup:**
- [ ] Book 60-90 minute meeting
- [ ] All team members invited (engineering, PM, design)
- [ ] Retro board ready (Miro/FigJam/Retrium or physical board)
- [ ] Previous action items ready to review
- [ ] Sprint metrics ready (velocity, bugs, incidents)

**Choose Retro Format:**
(Rotate formats to keep engagement high)

**Format Options:**
- **Start/Stop/Continue** (Classic, good for new teams)
- **Mad/Sad/Glad** (Good for emotional check-in)
- **What Went Well / What Didn't / What to Try** (Balanced)
- **Sailboat** (Wind=helps us, Anchors=slows us, Rocks=risks)
- **4Ls** (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For)
- **Timeline** (Map events of sprint chronologically)

**Recommended:** Rotate between 2-3 formats. Use timeline format after major incidents or complex sprints.

**Your Mindset:**
- Facilitate, don't dominate
- Everyone's voice matters
- Focus on what team can control
- Safe space for honesty
- Action-oriented, not just venting

## 2. Retro Structure (60-90 mins)

### Part 1: Set the Stage (5 mins)

**Welcome:**
"Thanks everyone for being here. This is our time to reflect on the sprint and improve as a team."

**Prime Directive (Read Aloud):**
"Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand."

**Retro Rules:**
- What's said here stays here (confidentiality)
- No blame, focus on systems and processes
- Specific examples, not vague complaints
- Everyone participates
- Focus on what we can control

**Today's Format:**
"We're using [format]. Here's how it works: [explain briefly]"

### Part 2: Review Previous Action Items (5 mins)

**Check Status:**
"Let's quickly review action items from last retro"

For each item:
- ✅ Done - Celebrate! What impact did it have?
- 🔄 In Progress - Keep going? Adjust?
- ❌ Didn't Happen - Why not? Still needed?

**Key Point:**
- If we keep not doing action items, we need smaller/simpler actions
- Or we're picking the wrong things to improve

### Part 3: Gather Data (15-20 mins)

**Silent Brainstorming:**
"Take 10 minutes to add your thoughts to the board. Be specific - use examples."

**Prompts for [Format = Start/Stop/Continue]:**
- **Start:** What should we start doing?
- **Stop:** What should we stop doing?
- **Continue:** What's working well that we should keep?

**While Team is Adding Items:**
- Add your own items too
- Group similar items together
- Notice patterns or themes

**After Brainstorming:**
"Let's quick read through everything. Speak up if your item needs clarification."

### Part 4: Generate Insights (20-25 mins)

**Dot Voting (5 mins):**
"Everyone gets 3 votes. Vote for items most important to discuss."
[Use retro tool's voting feature or have people add dots]

**Discuss Top Items (15-20 mins):**

**For Each High-Vote Item:**
1. **Clarify:** "Who added this? Can you explain?"
2. **Explore:** "Who else has experienced this?"
3. **Dig Deeper:** "Why is this happening?"
4. **Impact:** "How does this affect us/users?"
5. **Ideas:** "What could we try?"

**Facilitation Tips:**

**If Discussion is Vague:**
- "Can you give a specific example?"
- "When did this happen?"

**If Blaming Individual:**
- "Let's focus on the process/system that allowed this"
- "What could prevent this in future?"

**If Going Off Track:**
- "That's important. Let's add it to parking lot and come back if time"

**If Someone is Silent:**
- "Alex, you worked on that feature. What was your experience?"

**If Discussion is Stuck:**
- "Let's timebox this. 3 more minutes then move on"

### Part 5: Decide What to Do (10-15 mins)

**Generate Action Items:**
"What are the top 2-3 things we'll commit to trying?"

**Good Action Items:**
- ✅ Specific (not "communicate better")
- ✅ Actionable (clear owner)
- ✅ Timebound (complete by when)
- ✅ Measurable (how we'll know it's done)

**Example Good Action Items:**
- ✅ "PM will send requirements 2 days before sprint planning (Owner: Sarah, Start: Next sprint)"
- ✅ "Add tech debt ticket for [X] and prioritize in next sprint (Owner: Team lead, Due: This week)"
- ✅ "Weekly 30-min spike time for investigating [Y] (Owner: Mike + Jane, Start: Next week)"

**Example Bad Action Items:**
- ❌ "Improve code quality" (too vague)
- ❌ "Stop having bugs" (not actionable)
- ❌ "Be better at planning" (no owner or timeline)

**Limit to 2-3 Action Items:**
- More than 3 = nothing gets done
- If everything is important, nothing is important

**Get Commitment:**
- "Can [owner] commit to doing this?"
- "Does everyone agree this is a priority?"

### Part 6: Close (5 mins)

**Summary:**
"We discussed [key themes]. We're going to try [action items]. Thanks for your honesty and energy."

**Retro Feedback (Quick):**
- "Thumbs up/down: Was this retro valuable?"
- [If lots of thumbs down, ask: "What would make next one better?"]

**Appreciations (If Time):**
"Let's do quick appreciations. Shout out someone who helped you this sprint."

**End Positively:**
"Great sprint. Excited for next one!"

## 3. Post-Retro Actions (15 mins after)

**Document:**
- [ ] Create action items in tracking system (Jira/Linear/etc)
- [ ] Assign owners and due dates
- [ ] Share retro summary in Slack/email

**Follow Through:**
- [ ] Check action item progress in standups
- [ ] Review at next retro
- [ ] Celebrate when things improve!

**Share with Stakeholders:**
- [ ] High-level summary to leadership (if requested)
- [ ] Keep team discussions confidential

## 4. Common Retro Challenges & Solutions

**Challenge: Same Issues Every Retro**
- **Why:** Action items not being completed or not addressing root cause
- **Solution:** Go deeper on root cause. Smaller, simpler action items. Hold team accountable.

**Challenge: One Person Dominates**
- **Why:** Loud voices, hierarchy, personality
- **Solution:** Silent brainstorming first. "Let's hear from people who haven't spoken yet." Use async retro tool.

**Challenge: Retro Feels Like Waste of Time**
- **Why:** No action items followed through, or only surface-level discussion
- **Solution:** Review and actually complete action items. Go deeper on important issues. Keep retros crisp (60 mins max).

**Challenge: People Don't Participate**
- **Why:** Don't feel safe, checked out, too tired, don't see value
- **Solution:** Build psychological safety (read Prime Directive!). Vary formats. Make it engaging. Actually act on feedback.

**Challenge: Retro Becomes Complaining Session**
- **Why:** Legitimate frustration needs venting, but then stuck there
- **Solution:** Validate feelings, then redirect: "What can WE do about this?" Focus on what team controls.

**Challenge: Manager/Lead in Room Makes People Cautious**
- **Why:** Power dynamics, fear of repercussions
- **Solution:** Manager speaks last or not at all. Create safe space explicitly. Sometimes do retro without manager.

## 5. Retro Formats Explained

**Format 1: Start/Stop/Continue (Simple & Effective)**
- Start: What should we start doing?
- Stop: What should we stop doing?
- Continue: What's working well?

**When to Use:** New teams, straightforward sprints

**Format 2: Mad/Sad/Glad (Emotion-Focused)**
- Mad: What frustrated you?
- Sad: What disappointed you?
- Glad: What made you happy?

**When to Use:** After tough sprint, need emotional check-in

**Format 3: Sailboat (Visual & Fun)**
- Wind: What's pushing us forward?
- Anchors: What's slowing us down?
- Rocks: What risks are ahead?
- Island: Our goal

**When to Use:** Mid-project, planning next quarter

**Format 4: Timeline (Detailed)**
- Map out sprint chronologically
- Mark events: 🟢 Good, 🔴 Bad, 🟡 Interesting
- Discuss patterns

**When to Use:** After incidents, complex sprints

**Format 5: 4Ls**
- Liked: What did you enjoy?
- Learned: What did you learn?
- Lacked: What was missing?
- Longed For: What do you wish we had?

**When to Use:** Growth-focused teams, after learning spike

## 6. Metrics to Review (Optional)

**Sprint Metrics:**
- Velocity (completed points)
- Sprint goal achieved? Y/N
- Carryover stories
- Bugs found/fixed
- Production incidents

**Team Health:**
- Mood check (1-5 scale)
- Workload (sustainable? burning out?)
- Collaboration quality

**Don't Obsess Over Metrics:**
- Use to prompt discussion, not judge team
- Trends matter more than single sprint
- Metrics don't tell full story

## 7. Remote Retro Best Practices

**Tools:**
- Miro, FigJam, Retrium, EasyRetro, Google Jam board

**Tips:**
- Turn on cameras (more engagement)
- Use timer (keeps moving)
- Use retro tool's voting feature
- Take breaks (90 mins is long on video)
- Async component: Pre-add items before meeting

**Engagement:**
- Use polls, reactions, emojis
- Breakout rooms for larger teams
- Virtual backgrounds with theme (fun!)

## 8. Retro Anti-Patterns (Avoid)

**❌ Skipping retros:**
- "We're too busy" = We're too busy to improve (recipe for disaster)

**❌ Same format every time:**
- Gets stale, disengages team

**❌ No action items:**
- Retro becomes complaint session with no outcome

**❌ Action items not followed through:**
- Team stops trusting the process

**❌ Only focusing on negatives:**
- Demoralizing. Celebrate wins too!

**❌ Manager dominates:**
- Team doesn't feel safe sharing

**❌ Too long:**
- Attention drops after 90 mins

## 9. Sample Retro Summary Email

**Subject:** Sprint [X] Retro Summary

**Team,**

Thanks for a great retro today! Here's our summary:

**What Went Well:**
- [Highlight 2-3 positive things]
- [Team win to celebrate]

**Areas to Improve:**
- [2-3 key themes from discussion]

**Action Items:**
1. [Action item 1] - Owner: [Name] - Due: [Date]
2. [Action item 2] - Owner: [Name] - Due: [Date]
3. [Action item 3] - Owner: [Name] - Due: [Date]

We'll review progress in standup and at next retro.

**Next Retro:** [Date/Time]

Let me know if you have questions!

[Your Name]

## 10. Making Retros Great

**Your Role as Facilitator:**
- Create psychological safety
- Keep discussion focused and moving
- Draw out quiet voices
- Redirect blame to systems thinking
- Ensure action items are committed to

**Team's Responsibility:**
- Come prepared (think about sprint beforehand)
- Participate honestly
- Focus on improvement, not blame
- Complete action items

**Measure Success:**
- Team looks forward to retros (not dreads them)
- Action items get completed
- Same issues don't repeat every sprint
- Team grows and improves over time

**Remember:** A great retro is the foundation of a learning, improving team. Protect this time and make it valuable!