Agile Retrospectives

3.3 Managing Time

Here’s the rub: when you’re leading a retrospective, you should respond to the needs of the group, and you need to pay attention to time and stay within the timebox all at once. It’s a dilemma.

Bring a timepiece that will allow you to time activities. We sometimes lose track of time, so we’ll often jot down the start time so we know when to end an activity. Or you can use a stopwatch to time activities.

If you’re working with a group much larger than eight people, you’ll need a way to cue people that it’s time to move to another step. Use a bell, chime, or some other not-too-obnoxious sound when it’s time to come together as a group, debrief, or provide additional instructions for an activity. Yelling over the group isn’t effective and sends the wrong message. Whistling works to gain attention, but not always with the desired effect. Duck calls, cow sounds, and other animal sounds work in groups of less than ten (the sound doesn’t carry in larger groups), but well… they don’t add to your dignity (if you care about such things).

When the discussion still has energy yet the time you’ve planned has run out, ask the group what they want to do: “I’m concerned that if we continue this discussion we won’t meet our end goal. What do you want to do?” The group will refocus and move ahead, or they will tell you this conversation is more important than the original goal. Put the decision in the hands of the group.

Usually it’s pretty clear. When it’s not, look for ...