Appreciations
It is usually run in the final phase of the retrospective and lasts between 5 and 30 minutes depending on the size of the team. Unlike generic praise, appreciations are addressed to a specific person and refer to something specific that person did or said during the sprint.
How to run the activity
The facilitator introduces the activity and gives a demonstration with one of the team members. The formula is: name + "I appreciate you for [something specific]". For example: "María, I appreciate you for helping me understand feature X. It helped me get up to speed quickly."
Once the demonstration is done, the facilitator sits down and waits. They should not force participation: someone will volunteer. When participation tapers off, it is better to wait and allow the silence. Some people need time to work up the courage.
The activity is closed when roughly a minute has gone by without anyone speaking.
In remote teams
In distributed or hybrid teams, appreciations work just as well in the video call chat or with collaborative whiteboard tools. Some teams use a structured round to make sure everyone has the chance to take part, although this does reduce spontaneity somewhat.
Why it works
Appreciations are not just a pleasant closing: they have a real effect on team cohesion. Research on positive psychology in work environments —such as Fredrickson's (2001) work on the role of positive emotions in performance— suggests that explicit peer-to-peer recognition strengthens bonds of trust and the willingness to ask for and offer help in the future.
Common mistake
Forcing participation or turning it into a mandatory round. When the facilitator points to each person in turn so that they say something, appreciations stop being spontaneous and become an awkward formality. If nobody speaks after the demonstration, it may be a sign that the team does not yet have enough trust in one another —useful information in itself— or simply that this is not the right day for it.
Resources
🔧 Designing a retrospectiveTemplate · Scrum Manager
📄 Tercera fase de una retrospectiva: crear conocimiento [Third phase of a retrospective: creating knowledge, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2023
📄 Ejemplo: cómo diseñar una sprint retrospective [Example: how to design a sprint retrospective, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2022
References
- Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.
- Fredrickson, Barbara L. (2001). "The role of positive emotions in positive psychology". American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
See also
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