Better and more efficient retrospectives
In Agile teams, retrospectives are one of the most important ways to reflect, learn and improve. However, retrospectives don’t always feel as productive as they should, often because the team doesn't come prepared to talk about the last x weeks.
When we meet for a retrospective, we're usually thinking about what happened in the last few days, or even just yesterday: there's a clear recency bias. This means that whatever happened earlier doesn't get sufficient attention and we don't take any learnings from it.
A way to fix this is to stop treating retrospectives as a one-time meeting. Instead, think of them as a continuous practice that happens throughout sprint. This doesn't have to add extra meetings or make things more complicated. In fact, it can make retrospectives simpler and more effective.
How?
1. Write things down as they happen.
When something noteworthy happens, write it down right away. No matter if it's an idea, an complaint, or praise. This can be as simple as leaving a note on a task you’re working on.
2. Make collaboration ongoing
Give everyone on the team a chance to read and comment on those notes at any point in time. This way, by the time the retrospective happens, people already have a shared understanding of what worked and what didn’t.
3. Use a Tool That Fits Your Workflow
Tools can make this process easier. A good retrospective tool lets you capture thoughts during the sprint, share them with the team, and organize them for later discussion.
What is Retro Notes?
One tool that helps with continuous retrospectives is Retro Notes. It’s simple to use and fits right into your team’s workflow as it's fully embedded in Jira.
With Retro Notes:
- Anyone can add notes anytime: While working on a ticket or wrapping up a task, team members can leave quick notes about what went well, what didn’t, or what could be improved.
- Notes are visible to everyone: The whole team can see these notes, comment on them, or vote for ones they find important.
- Synchronous retrospectives are more focused: When it’s time for your retro meeting, you can pull in all the notes from the sprint. This saves time and ensures no important insight is missed.
This approach results in more productive and effective retrospectives
Interested in trying Retro Notes? Install the free trial from the marketplace
It is fully build within the Atlassian ecosystem, does not have any external connections and therefore is a secure choice for any team.
Please reach out to info@solidini.com if you have any questions.
