Times are crazy. It’s like an asteroid hit the earth and everything is changing. We’re all trying to adjust to the new normal as we work in unfamiliar ways. That frenzied or lost feeling you might have right now … well, here’s one way you might calm your nerves: get clear about what is and what isn’t, what you’re feeling, what others are feeling, what was great, what sucked, and what you’re still wondering.
The Retrospective Ceremony
A great way to get clarity about all these things is a ceremony called the retrospective, or retro for short. There are many styles and variations of how to retro, but the best ones help you do some important things.
Jobs of the Retrospective
- Take some “time outside of time” (pause … stop doing … be)
- Reflect (look backward over a span of experience)
- Stay curious (suspend judgment)
- Be honest (about what you see in yourself and others)
- Be kind (in your reflection with yourself and others)
- Take perspective and be heard (on what was great, not-so-great, or unexpected)
Kind ≠ Nice
When you hold kindness and honesty together, you may wonder how to have both if your honest thoughts and feelings have some rough edges. Consider this: Being kind is not always nice, and being nice is not always kind. The not-so-secret to being candid is to 1) care about the person and 2) be direct (Scott, Kim, Radical Candor). However, remember to be clear about what is yours: your experience is true for you but not Truth.
Curiosity, Not Blame
Assigning blame is what I call an anti-pattern of the retrospective ceremony. Why would anyone sign up for a blaming session? If you need to get to the bottom of things, it’s much better to ask, “How did this happen?” I know of no better way to be curious and direct, without the implied blame that comes from using the word “why?” For more on that, read here for why to avoid why.
Take a Breath
Remember that the purpose of a retrospective is to reflect, with yourself and as a group. Some of the information you take in may be edgy or leave a bitter taste. Resist the urge to jump to action; not everything needs an action item or needs to be fixed. This is a ceremony devoted to speaking and being heard. Be sure to listen and try to take the perspective of other people. Being empathetic doesn’t mean you agree, just that you “make a commitment to understanding their world” (Voss, Chris. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, p. 52).
You Can Have a Solo Retrospective
Before we go further, I want you to notice that everything above holds true whether you’re working with a group, or only yourself. You can have a solo retrospective. Maybe you should. Take turns sitting in yourself and with yourself. Reflect on your direct experience, and also reflect on what you see as you look upon yourself. Avoid blame, avoid “why,” keep asking, “how did this happen?” and always be kind.
An Effective Formula for a Retro
I have participated in a handful of styles for running retros but I always come back to one that is simple, and seems to work well with people staying at the surface level and deciding to go deeper. It’s a three-column board that I learned to use at Pivotal Labs.
Three-Column Retro Board
- I’m glad that…
- I’m wondering about…
- It wasn’t so great…
You can use sticky notes on a whiteboard or sheet of paper, or you could use an online tool like Trello, Google Sheets, FunRetro, or my favorite, Postfacto. The flow should be roughly the same, whichever you choose.
Starting the Retro
- Set up the board so everyone knows the categories
- Decide how long you will give to the ceremony; you might not cover every card on the board.
- Define the time frame of the retrospective (last week, month, quarter?)
- Give time to create cards for each item; the longer the span of time, the more time you will want to give to generating cards. (For weekly retros, we spend about five minutes creating cards before people run out of steam.)
- Everyone post up cards, all at once or as you go. Post any duplicates with each other.
- Vote: everyone review the cards and upvote the ones that speak for them or feel important to discuss. Add dots to stickies, click the like button … whatever gets it done.
Note: you can decide up front if you want to have cards be anonymous or not. Anonymity might be what people need to feel safe speaking their truth.
Facilitating the Retro
- Choose one person to facilitate the read-out. It’s good to start with someone experienced to model the ceremony, but be sure to switch out the roles from one retro to the next so that everyone takes turns.
- The facilitator briefly reviews the board to spot which cards have the most votes and which ones seem related.
- Start with a high-ranked positive card.
- Read out the card and ask “does anyone want to speak to this?”
- Have whatever discussion arises, and be mindful of the time. Give it five minutes if it needs it, but after that ask, “Do we want to give this any more time or shall we move on?” And if there’s nothing to say about a card, just move on.
- If you see other cards that were covered by the discussion, point them out and say, “I think this was covered; does anyone feel differently?” Then move on.
- As you move from card to card, try to mix in question cards and negative cards. Many people prefer to bookend the ceremony with positive cards at the beginning and end.
- When your allotted time is complete, or you run out of cards, call and end to the retro.
Extras
You may feel that some of the retro cards call for action items or further discussion. Feel free to generate a to-do list as needed. You can use this to create actions that will mitigate issues or schedule more time for bigger discussions. But be sure that you follow up with that to-do list, or you’ll just be creating a list of broken promises. And be sure to assign some responsibility to teach action item, even if it is more than one person, or else you may end up with nobody taking responsibility.
One colleague of mine likes to ask people to post what surprised them. These could be positive, negative, or neutral … just put them wherever they go. Or you might even create a column for it.
What’s Your Style?
How do you do your retrospectives? What’s works for you?
