Retrospectives Guide

What are Retrospectives?

Retrospectives (or "retros") are structured team reflection sessions where you pause to examine what's working, what isn't, and how to improve. Unlike passive feedback collection, retrospectives are interactive, collaborative sessions that turn insights into action.

Why Retrospectives Matter

• Continuous Improvement: Regular reflection prevents small issues from becoming big problems
• Team Ownership: Teams identify their own solutions rather than having changes imposed
• Psychological Safety: Creates a safe space for honest, constructive feedback
• Shared Understanding: Aligns the team on challenges and priorities
• Actionable Outcomes: Converts discussions into concrete action items with owners

Getting Started

Step 1: Create a Retrospective

1. Navigate to Team Health > Retrospectives
2. Click "New Retrospective"
3. Give your retro a descriptive name (e.g., "Sprint 42 Retro" or "Q1 Product Team Retro")
4. Select your team
5. Choose a facilitator (typically the team lead or rotating team member)
6. Select a template (see Template Options below)
7. Set a scheduled date/time (optional)
8. Set duration (typically 60-90 minutes)
9. Click "Create Retrospective"

Step 2: Team Participates (Real-Time)

When the facilitator clicks "Start Retrospective", the session moves to the interactive board where team members can:

1. Add Items: Submit feedback cards in different categories (varies by template)
2. Vote: Click items to upvote the most important topics (limited votes per person)
3. Group: Facilitator can drag similar items together
4. Discuss: Facilitator can add comments to items during discussion
5. Track Time: Built-in timer keeps the session on schedule

All changes sync in real-time—everyone sees updates instantly without refreshing.

Step 3: Create Action Items

1. Click "Actions" tab during or after the retrospective
2. Click "Add Action Item"
3. Enter a clear, specific action (e.g., "Create PR checklist template")
4. Assign to a team member
5. Set a due date
6. Optionally add description/context

Step 4: Complete the Retrospective

1. Facilitator clicks "Complete Retrospective"
2. Optionally rate the retro mood/energy (1-5 stars)
3. System generates a comprehensive report with:
   • Top-voted items per category
   • All action items with status
   • Participation statistics
   • AI analysis of common themes
4. Report is saved and can be exported/shared

Template Options

Choose the right template for your team's context. Each template offers different categories to structure the conversation:

1. Start, Stop, Continue

2. 4 L's (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For)

3. Sailboat

4. Glad, Sad, Mad

5. KALM (Keep, Add, Less, More)

6. Timeline

7. Team Health Check

8. Lean Coffee

Real-Time Collaboration

Sizemotion's retrospectives use WebSocket technology for seamless real-time collaboration:

Live Updates

• Instant Sync: New items appear immediately for all participants
• Vote Counts: Vote totals update in real-time as team members vote
• Participant Tracking: See who's actively participating (avatar badges)
• Phase Changes: When facilitator moves to a new phase, everyone sees it instantly
• Timer Sync: Countdown timer stays synchronized across all browsers

Participation Features

• Anonymous Mode: Toggle to submit items without showing your name (encourages honesty)
• Limited Votes: Each participant gets a fixed number of votes (typically 5-10) to focus discussion
• Comments: Add context to items during discussion phase
• Drag & Drop: Facilitator can group similar items by dragging them together

Facilitator Controls

• Phase Management: Control session flow (Collect → Vote → Discuss → Actions)
• Timer: Set time limits for each phase to keep session on track
• Item Management: Edit, delete, or merge items as needed
• Export: Download results as PDF or CSV at any time

Action Items

The most important outcome of any retrospective is concrete, actionable commitments:

Creating Effective Action Items

Poor Action Item	Good Action Item
"Improve communication"	"Create #engineering-updates Slack channel for daily deployment notifications"
"Better code reviews"	"Write and share PR checklist template by Friday"
"Reduce meeting time"	"Cancel Monday standup, move updates to async Slack thread"
"Fix technical debt"	"Allocate 2 story points per sprint to refactoring tasks"

Action Item Tracking

• Status Management: Track as "Todo", "In Progress", "Completed", or "Blocked"
• Assignment: Each action has a clear owner (assigned team member)
• Due Dates: Set realistic deadlines to maintain accountability
• Cross-Retro Visibility: See open actions from previous retros in new sessions
• Completion Tracking: System records completion date and tracks follow-through rate

Following Through

1. Review in Next Retro: Start each session by reviewing action items from last time
2. Celebrate Completion: Acknowledge completed actions publicly
3. Learn from Failures: If actions aren't completed, discuss why (too ambitious? wrong owner?)
4. Track Trends: Monitor completion rates across retros to improve accountability

AI-Powered Insights

When you create a retrospective, Sizemotion automatically analyzes recent team data to surface relevant insights:

Data Sources

• Team Radar: Recent pulse survey results and dimension changes
• Standups: Common blockers and recurring themes from daily updates
• OKRs: Progress on objectives and key results
• Previous Retros: Unresolved action items and recurring topics

Insight Examples

How to Use Insights

• Seed Discussion: Insights appear on the retrospective board to prompt conversation
• Validate Concerns: Use data to confirm team members' feelings aren't isolated
• Prioritize Topics: Focus on issues backed by multiple data points
• Track Impact: See if action items from previous retros improved metrics

Best Practices

Frequency & Timing

• Sprint teams: Every 1-2 weeks at sprint end
• Project teams: At major milestones (end of phase, launch, etc.)
• Support teams: Monthly for continuous work
• Duration: 60 minutes for small teams (3-5), 90 minutes for larger teams (6-10)
• Consistency: Same day/time each cycle (e.g., every other Friday at 2pm)

Facilitation Tips

• Rotate facilitators: Share the responsibility to build facilitation skills and fresh perspectives
• Set ground rules: Remind team of respectful communication and focus on process, not people
• Time-box discussions: Use the built-in timer to prevent over-discussion of single topics
• Focus on learning: Frame issues as opportunities to improve, not failures to blame
• End with commitment: Don't leave without 2-3 concrete action items

Maximizing Participation

• Silent collection: Give 5-10 minutes for everyone to add items before discussing
• Read items aloud: Facilitator reads each item to ensure everyone understands
• Ask for clarification: Encourage item authors to add context during discussion
• Draw out quiet voices: Explicitly ask for input from team members who haven't spoken
• Use anonymous mode: For sensitive topics or new teams still building trust

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• ❌ Too many action items: Focus beats overcommitment—aim for 2-3 high-impact actions
• ❌ Vague action items: "Improve testing" becomes "Write integration test for checkout flow by Thursday"
• ❌ No follow-through: Always review previous actions at the start of next retro
• ❌ Blaming individuals: Focus on systems and processes, not people
• ❌ Skipping when "nothing happened": Even quiet sprints benefit from reflection
• ❌ Manager dominance: Ensure all voices are heard equally, regardless of seniority

Retrospective Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Why It Fails	Solution
The Complaint Session	All problems, no solutions or actions	For each issue raised, ask "What could we do about this?"
The Groundhog Day	Same issues every retrospective, no change	Review action completion rate and escalate systemic blockers
The Superficial	Only surface-level topics, real issues avoided	Build psychological safety over time; use anonymous mode
The Facilitator Monologue	Facilitator talks 80% of the time	Rotate facilitators; time-box your own speaking

Privacy & Anonymity

Anonymous Contributions

• Toggle Per Item: Choose anonymity on each item you submit (not global setting)
• Full Anonymity: Anonymous items show no author name or avatar to anyone, including facilitators
• Encouraging Honesty: Use anonymous mode for politically sensitive or emotionally charged topics
• Author Revealed on Edit: If you edit an anonymous item, your name appears only to you

Who Can See What

Data	Participants	Facilitator	Account Admins
Anonymous items (author)	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Non-anonymous items	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Vote counts	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Individual votes (who voted what)	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
Participation status	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Action item assignments	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

Data Retention

• Retrospective data is retained indefinitely for historical reference
• Facilitators can delete retrospectives in "draft" or "scheduled" status
• Completed retrospectives can be archived (hides from main list but preserves data)
• Account admins can permanently delete retrospective data on request

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I customize or create my own template?

Not currently. The 8 templates cover most use cases based on research and best practices. If you have a specific need not met by existing templates, contact our team—we regularly add new templates based on customer feedback.

What if someone can't attend the live session?

Team members can submit items asynchronously before or after the session. However, the discussion phase works best with full team presence. Consider:

• Recording the session for absentees to watch later
• Having remote participants join via video call
• Collecting async input beforehand and discussing during session

How many votes should each person get?

A good rule of thumb is votes = half the number of items, capped at 10. For example:

• 20 items collected → 5-7 votes per person
• 50 items collected → 10 votes per person (cap)

Too many votes = no prioritization. Too few = important items get missed.

Should retrospectives be anonymous?

It depends on team maturity and psychological safety:

• Use anonymous mode: New teams, recent conflicts, politically sensitive topics, low trust environments
• Use non-anonymous: Mature teams, high trust, need for accountability and follow-up conversations
• Hybrid approach: Allow individuals to choose anonymity per item (default behavior)

How long should each phase take?

For a 60-minute retrospective:

• Collect (10 min): Silent item submission
• Vote (5 min): Everyone votes on top priorities
• Discuss (35 min): Talk through top-voted items
• Actions (10 min): Create 2-3 concrete action items

Adjust based on team size and number of items collected.

What if we don't complete action items from last time?

1. Review why: Too ambitious? Wrong owner? External blockers?
2. Decide: Keep, modify, or drop the action
3. Learn: Adjust future commitments to be more realistic
4. Escalate: If systemic blockers prevent action, raise to leadership

Important: Low completion rates signal problems with the retrospective process itself—address this meta-issue.

Can I run retrospectives across multiple teams?

Each retrospective is tied to a single team. For cross-team retrospectives (e.g., department-wide), consider:

• Creating a "Program" or "Department" team in Sizemotion
• Using the "Leadership" or "Health Check" template
• Breaking into smaller team-specific discussions after initial collection phase

How do I export retrospective data?

From the retrospective report view:

• Click "Export" button
• Choose format: PDF (formatted report) or CSV (raw data)
• PDF includes: top items, action items, insights, statistics
• CSV includes: all items with votes, comments, metadata

What happens to insights from previous retros?

Insights and action items from previous retrospectives are automatically surfaced in new retros when relevant. The system tracks:

• Open action items (appears in new retro as reminder)
• Recurring themes (flags if similar topics appear across multiple retros)
• Resolution status (shows if previous concerns were addressed based on Team Radar changes)

Next Steps

• Create your first retrospective and choose a template
• Learn about Team Radar to gather quantitative team health data
• Read about Standups to complement retros with daily check-ins
• Explore OKRs to turn retrospective insights into measurable goals