fleet/docs/Contributing/rituals/sprint-retrospective.md

Sprint retrospective

Purpose: Encourage discussion among the team to reflect on the sprint and identify improvements for future sprints.

Cadence: On the last day of each sprint, typically after the sprint demo, 30-45 minutes.

Participants: Full product group.

Ritual DRI: EM or assigned team member.

Format

1. Open the retrospective and set a collaborative tone.
2. Share screen and open ritual doc.
3. Ask each team to answer the agenda questions.
4. For each agenda item, add the team member's answers to the ritual doc.
5. Ritual DRI goes last.
6. Conduct 5-10 minute open discussion proposing action items based on the retro.
7. Add proposed action items to the ritual doc under the related feedback.
8. Ritual DRI decides which action items to convert to timebox issues for the next sprint.
9. At least one timebox issue based on retro feedback must be created and brought into the next sprint.

Encourage open discussion and that all voices are heard. When a team member is sharing their retro, they have the full floor. Do not interrupt unless they have gone past their allotted time, or their feedback is not aligned with our values.

Approved ritual assisted applications include EasyRetro and Reetro where the 4 sections (went well, could have gone better, learned, action items) can be managed but the output for each section still must be copied back into the ritual doc at the end. Remeber to add a link to the assistance application in the ritual doc. Why? This is to facilitate async feedback and voting / prioritization of topics and no other automation is expected.

Agenda

• What went well? - Celebrate successes, effective practices, and positive outcomes from the sprint.
• What could have been better? - Identify challenges, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement.
• What did we learn? - Capture insights, new knowledge, and lessons from the sprint experience.
• Action items - Define specific, actionable improvements with owners and timelines.

Best Practices

• Be specific: Vague feedback like "communication could be better" should be explored with concrete examples.
• Focus forward: While discussing problems, emphasize solutions and improvements.
• Action-oriented: Every major issue identified should result in an actionable next step like a timebox issue for the next sprint.
• Psychological safety: Ensure team members feel comfortable sharing candid feedback.
• Follow through: Track and report on action items from previous retrospectives.

Create a safe environment for candid feedback. Focus on process and collaboration improvements rather than individual performance.

Notes

• See sprint retrospective definition in the handbook.
• Retrospectives must result in concrete action items that will be implemented in the next or future sprints.
• The Ritual DRI is responsible for creating action items and timebox issues and making sure they are promptly completed.