Agile Retrospectives, 2nd Edition

Select Activities

After you’ve decided on the focus, duration, attendees, venue, and setup, it’s time to think about activities. The goal is to move the group in a smooth, logical flow through the phases of the retrospective. Activities support that purpose while encouraging relatively equal participation and deeper thinking. The structure provided by activities helps the team think together.

Activities do the following:

• Encourage equal participation. With five or more people it’s hard for everyone to participate in a conversation. Working in smaller groups makes it more likely that people will hear each other and feel heard.

• Focus the conversation. Activities have a particular focus that frames the conversation. That reduces (but doesn’t ...