# Sprint Retro Toolkit

## Pre-Retro: Sprint Health Report (Friday afternoon)

Run this AI prompt to generate talking points before your retro meeting.

```
Generate a Sprint Health Report for [SPRINT NAME / DATES].

Sprint goals:
- [Goal 1: shipped or not]
- [Goal 2: shipped or not]
- [Goal 3: shipped or not]

What we shipped:
[List features/fixes shipped this sprint]

Metrics from this sprint:
- [Metric 1]: [value] (vs goal)
- [Metric 2]: [value] (vs goal)

Blockers we hit:
- [Blocker 1 and how we resolved it]
- [Blocker 2 and how we resolved it]

Team feedback (from standups/Slack):
- [Positive moment or win]
- [Frustration or pain point]
- [Surprising insight]

Generate:
1. Sprint Health Score (1-10)
2. Top 3 things that went well
3. Top 3 things that went wrong
4. Pattern we should address (what's repeating?)
5. One thing to keep doing, one thing to stop, one thing to start

Tone: realistic and honest. This is for internal team alignment.
```

**Output:** Share this report with the team before retro starts (Friday Slack message)
**Time:** 10 minutes

---

## Retro Meeting Facilitation Checklist (15 minutes)

Run on Friday afternoon or first thing Monday.

**Setup (2 minutes)**
- [ ] Everyone on video/in room
- [ ] Shared document or whiteboard open (Miro, Google Doc, Figma)
- [ ] Sprint health report visible (paste at top)
- [ ] Timer ready (use your phone)

**Went Well (3 minutes)**
- [ ] Ask: "What went well this sprint?"
- [ ] Go around room, each person adds 1-2 things
- [ ] Keep energy positive - don't debate
- [ ] Note the top 2-3 themes

**Didn't Go Well (4 minutes)**
- [ ] Ask: "What didn't go well? What frustrated you?"
- [ ] Listen without judgment
- [ ] Note everything - don't filter yet
- [ ] Look for patterns (same issue from multiple people = priority)

**Action Items (5 minutes)**
- [ ] For each major issue: "What do we do differently next sprint?"
- [ ] Assign an owner (who will drive the change)
- [ ] Make it specific and small (not "improve communication" → "daily standup includes blockers")
- [ ] Limit to 3 max (more than 3 = you won't do them)
- [ ] Write down commitment: "Next sprint: [action] because [why]"

**Close (1 minute)**
- [ ] Celebrate the sprint (one win to remember)
- [ ] Confirm action items and owners
- [ ] Schedule retro for next sprint (same time slot)

---

## Action Item Template

Use this format for every action item committed in retro.

```
Action: [Specific thing you will do]
Owner: [Name of person driving this]
Why: [Why this matters - connects to the issue from retro]
Success looks like: [How you'll know it worked - make it measurable]
Timeline: [By end of next sprint / by date]

Example:
Action: Daily standup includes "blockers" section (separate from updates)
Owner: Sarah (facilitating standups)
Why: We learned people weren't speaking up about blockers until end of week
Success looks like: Every day someone mentions 1+ blocker, gets help same day
Timeline: Starting next sprint Monday
```

---

## Good vs Bad Action Items

**BAD:**
- "Improve communication" (too vague)
- "Better planning next time" (no owner, no measure)
- "Everyone write standup notes" (not connected to the problem)

**GOOD:**
- "Sarah sends standup notes by 10am every day in #daily-standup" (specific, measurable, owned)
- "Add 15 min to sprint planning for dependency mapping" (specific change, measurable)
- "Assign a dev to be 'blocker champion' - they unblock others in standup" (clear role, action-oriented)

**Rule:** If it doesn't have an owner and success criteria, don't commit to it.

---

## Retro Anti-Patterns to Avoid

- **Blame game:** Focus on systems, not people
- **Venting without action:** Every issue must get an action item or we move on
- **Same issues every retro:** If you're saying the same thing twice, you didn't implement an action item
- **Too many action items:** Commit to 3 max. More = paralysis
- **No owner:** "We should..." is not a commitment. "Sarah will..." is.

---

## Running Retros Consistently

**Every sprint retro should:**
- [ ] Compare this sprint to last (did our action items work?)
- [ ] Look for patterns (same issue 2+ sprints = systemic problem)
- [ ] Celebrate the team (every sprint had wins, name them)
- [ ] Produce 2-3 action items with owners

**Frequency:** End of every sprint (ideally 1-2 hour retro)
**Time investment:** 15 minutes facilitation + 5 minutes prep = 20 min/sprint
**ROI:** Team gets better every sprint; morale stays high; systemic issues get fixed

---

## Monthly Meta-Retro

**Once per month (in retro slot):** Review your last 4 retros.

**Question:** Are we actually improving? Check:
- [ ] How many action items did we complete? (should be 80%+)
- [ ] Did any issue show up twice? Why didn't it get fixed?
- [ ] What's our team's biggest friction point? (keep focus on the real issue)

**If retros aren't working:** Maybe you need better action items, or the team doesn't trust the process yet. Discuss openly.