Sprint Retrospective Guide

The sprint retrospective is one of the most important ceremonies in scrum and it is held after the end of every sprint. The main goal of the retrospective is to continuously improve the way people on the team deliver and work together.

Further reading

• - How long is a sprint retrospective?
• - What is the output of the sprint retrospective?
• - When is a sprint retrospective ceremony performed?

Sprint Retrospective Meeting

One of the most common retrospective meetings is the what went well - what didn't go well template. The scrum master and the team members discuss what happened during the last sprint, what went well, and what went wrong. Here you can find some more sprint retrospective ideas and sprint retrospective examples.

• - What Is Product Owner Responsible For During Sprint Retrospective?
• - Sprint Retrospective Meeting Agenda: What You Need To Know
• - Sprint Retrospective Start Stop Continue Examples
• - Top Reasons for Holding Regular Sprint Retrospective
• - What is the Purpose of the Sprint Retrospective?
• - Your Guide To The Sprint Retrospective Timebox

Questions & Topics

During a sprint retrospective, it's important to identify appropriate topics for discussion that can improve the team's performance and to know what to say constructively when discussing them. Thoughtful questions to ask during a sprint retrospective, such as "What worked well this sprint?" and "How can we improve communication moving forward?" encourage open dialogue and reflection, leading to valuable insights for the team to continuously improve their processes.

Facilitation

The sprint retrospective facilitator is the one responsible to facilitate this meeting, but other attending members can rotate as well in this role.

Further reading

• - Who should conduct a retrospective meeting
• - How to run a sprint retrospective?
• - Sprint review vs sprint retrospective

There are many ways to run sprint retrospectives including online and offline formats. Here is a list of sprint retrospective tools to try.