Agile Retrospective Quick Start Guide

Within the context of Agile development, the Sprint Retrospective is a powerful technique that was designed to enable teams to identify causes of failures and provide a method to continuously improve team performance. This ceremony is often under-utilized for reasons such as fear of change, fear of failure, or lack of understanding.

This guide offers insights into why the Retrospective is one of the most important tools within an Agile team’s toolbox, as well as recommendations on how to execute retrospective in a way that will instill a continuous improvement mindset.

In this guide, we will explore:

• What is a Sprint Retrospective? How is it Different From a “Lessons-Learned?”
• Tips for Implementing an Effective Retrospective
• Common Anti-Patterns and Solutions
• Example Retrospective Format
• Next Steps/Suggested Courses