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Retrospectives

Conducting regular reviews to discuss what went well, what didn't, and how to improve.

Also Known As

Related

Addresses / Mitigates

  • Coordination Risk: Identifies and addresses historic coordination issues through regular reviews.
  • Process Risk: Continuously improves processes and practices.
  • Feature Fit Risk: Captures feedback and adjusts features to meet evolving needs.
  • Internal Model Risk: Looking at what went wrong before leads to improving the internal model of risk for the future.

Attendant Risks

  • Schedule Risk: Requires coordination and can disrupt regular workflows.

Used By

  • Extreme Programming: XP relies on continuous feedback from tests, customers, and developers to improve the software.
  • Lean Software Development: Lean regularly reflects on and improves the development process through continuous improvement and Kaizen.
  • Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe): SAFe includes Inspect and Adapt workshops for systematic improvement after each PI.
  • Scrum: Retrospectives are a key part of Scrum for continuous improvement.
  • TameFlow: TameFlow uses the Thinking Process from Theory of Constraints for systematic improvement.

Description​

"A retrospective is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past." - Retrospective, Wikipedia

In agile software development, retrospectives are regular meetings where the team reflects on what went well, what didn't, and how they can improve. These meetings are crucial for continuous improvement, fostering a culture of learning, and enhancing team collaboration and performance.

Variations​

Retrospective TypeDescriptionReference
Sprint RetrospectiveHeld at the end of each sprint to review the iteration and identify improvements for the next one.Scrum, Wikipedia
Incident Post-MortemIn-depth analysis conducted after a significant incident or outage to understand root causes.Postmortem Documentation, Wikipedia
Project RetrospectiveComprehensive review at the end of a project covering the entire development lifecycle.Project Management, Wikipedia

Used By​

Extreme Programming

Extreme Programming

An Agile software development methodology that emphasizes customer satisfaction, teamwork, and frequent delivery of small, functional software increments.

Why: XP relies on continuous feedback from tests, customers, and developers to improve the software.

Uses:
  • Continuous Feedback
Lean Software Development

Lean Software Development

An Agile software development methodology that emphasizes eliminating waste, building quality in, creating knowledge, deferring commitment, delivering fast, respecting people, and optimizing the whole.

Why: Lean regularly reflects on and improves the development process through continuous improvement and Kaizen.

Uses:
  • Continuous Improvement
  • Kaizen
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

A set of organization and workflow patterns for scaling lean and agile practices across large enterprises.

Why: SAFe includes Inspect and Adapt workshops for systematic improvement after each PI.

Uses:
  • Inspect and Adapt
  • Iteration Retrospective
Scrum

Scrum

An Agile framework for managing and completing complex projects.

Why: Retrospectives are a key part of Scrum for continuous improvement.

Uses:
  • Sprint Retrospective
TameFlow

TameFlow

A management approach for knowledge work that integrates Theory of Constraints, Kanban, and Agile principles to optimize the flow of work, information, and value.

Why: TameFlow uses the Thinking Process from Theory of Constraints for systematic improvement.

Uses:
  • TOC Thinking Process