Reflect

This is a guide to running an effective Agile Retrospective, a ceremony held at the end of each iteration for the team to reflect on its process. The primary goal is continuous improvement by celebrating what went well and identifying what could be done better in the next sprint. A successful retrospective ensures that all team members have a voice, the discussion is focused on the most important topics, and the team leaves with a renewed sense of unity and shared ownership over their way of working.

We outline a specific, four-step structure for facilitating the meeting. First, the team asynchronously collects feedback, with individuals adding notes to columns like "What went well?" and "What didn't go so well?". Second, the facilitator groups similar feedback items to consolidate themes and prevent vote splitting. Third, the team votes on the grouped items to democratically prioritize what to discuss. Finally, the team discusses the top-voted items, and if any actionable improvements are identified, they should be created as work items and added to the backlog for future prioritization.

In terms of tooling, the video notes that Jira does not have a native retrospective feature, leading teams to use external tools, whereas Azure Boards has an excellent built-in module that guides the team through this structured process. The speaker emphasizes that this structure is critical because it ensures the team's limited time is spent on the most impactful conversations. The ultimate aim is not just to create a list of actions, but to ensure everyone's voice is heard and the team collectively owns its journey of improvement.