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Retromat.org – by Corinna Baldauf
Plan-ID:
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Set the stage

What kind of X? (#140)

Participants give a metaphor for the iteration
Source: Unknown via Corinna Baldauf
Start by asking "If this iteration was an X, what kind of X would it be?" This question has endless variations from "If the iteration was a animal, what animal would it be?" over cocktails and furniture to plants and "If the iteration was a car, what car would it be?"

Ask everybody to write down their answer on a sticky note. Go around the team, everybody reads out their note and posts it on a board. Briefly discuss the answers. After all it's a difference if the iteration were "a BMW, but the brakes don't work" or a "red 2004 Toyota Prius". What does it mean to the people who wrote it down?
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Gather data

Analyze Stories (#5)

Walk through each story handled by the team and look for possible improvements
Source: Corinna Baldauf
Preparation: Collect all stories handled during the iteration and bring them along to the retrospective.
In a group (10 people max.) read out each story. For each one discuss whether it went well or not. If it went well, capture why. If not discuss what you could do differently in the future.

Variants: You can use this for support tickets, bugs or any combination of work done by the team.
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Gather data

Mad Sad Glad (#7)

Collect events when team members felt mad, sad, or glad and find the sources
Source: Agile Retrospectives
Put up three posters labeled 'mad', 'sad', and 'glad' (or >:(, :(, :) alternatively). Team members write down one event per color coded card, when they've felt that way. When the time is up have everyone post their cards to the appropriate posters. Cluster the cards on each poster. Ask the group for cluster names.
Debrief by asking:
  • What's standing out? What's unexpected?
  • What was difficult about this task? What was fun?
  • What patterns do you see? What do they mean for you as a team?
  • Suggestions on how to continue?
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Decide what to do

Dot Voting - Starfish (#49)

Collect what to start, stop, continue, do more and less of
Source: Pat Kua
Draw 5 spokes on a flip chart paper, dividing it into 5 segments. Label them 'Start', 'Stop', 'Continue', 'Do More' and 'Do less'. Participants write their proposals on sticky notes and put them in the appropriate segment. After clustering stickies that capture the same idea, dot vote on which suggestions to try.
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Close the retrospective

Know Your Meme (#134)

If the retrospective was a meme or gif, which would it be?
Source: Thorben Heins
Usually devices are frowned upon during a retrospective. In this activity the participants get to whip out their laptop or smart phone in order to find the meme or gif that best represents the retrospective. Give participants 3 minutes to find the meme and then go around the circle. Each participant shows their meme and briefly says why they chose it.
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Retromat contains 127 activities, allowing for 8349005 combinations (25x30x22x22x23+5) and we are constantly adding more.

Created by Corinna Baldauf

Corinna wished for something like Retromat during her Scrummaster years. Eventually she just built it herself in the hope that it would be useful to others, too. Any questions, suggestions or encouragement? You can email her or follow her on Twitter. If you like Retromat you might also like Corinna's blog and her summaries on Wall-Skills.com.

Co-developed by Timon Fiddike

Timon gives Scrum trainings. He mentors advanced scrum masters and advanced product owners. Human, dad, nerd, contact improv & tango dancer. He has used Retromat since 2013 and started to build new features in 2016. You can email him or follow him on Twitter. Photo © Ina Abraham.