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

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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)

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.