Retrospective planning game
Description and objectives
It is used to develop detailed plans for new experiments or improvement proposals. Team members work individually or in pairs to generate all the tasks needed to carry out an experiment or proposal. Duplicates are then removed, any missing tasks are added, and the tasks are ordered by priority.
The activity simulates a mini Sprint Planning: the result is a set of prioritized tasks that the team commits to carrying out to implement the agreed improvement.
How to run the activity
- Each person works individually. If the team has more than eight people, they can work in pairs. Brainstorm the tasks that could be carried out to complete the experiment or proposal. Remove duplicate tasks, add new ones, and put them in order.
- Hand out sticky notes or cards. Each member writes one task on each sticky note, leaving the bottom part blank.
- Form groups of four by combining two pairs (or pairs, if people have been working individually so far). Repeat the first step, adding any task not yet included and removing duplicates.
- If the team has more than 16 people, the process can be repeated by forming groups of four from the groups already formed.
- The whole team gathers the tasks on a whiteboard or wall, leaving space on the right-hand side. Repeat the exercise: remove duplicates, add new ones, and check that none are missing.
- The team places the tasks that must be carried out first on the right-hand side of the wall.
- Each person signs up at the bottom of the cards for the tasks they want to or can complete.
- Tasks without an owner are discussed in order to assign them to someone.
- Determine whether the proposal is realistic within the available time. If it is not, adjust the scope.
When to use it
- When the team has identified a significant improvement that requires a detailed implementation plan.
- In end-of-release or project-start retrospectives, where improvements are more ambitious.
- As an alternative to a simple "we agree to do X" when the improvement requires coordination among several team members.
Common mistake
Creating a plan that is too ambitious for the time between retrospectives. The technique produces detailed commitments, which is where its value lies. But if the resulting plan requires more effort than the team can reasonably take on in the next sprint alongside its usual product work, the commitments will go unfulfilled and the retrospective will have generated frustration instead of improvement. Better a small plan that gets done than a big plan that gets abandoned.
Resources
🔧 Diseñar una retrospectiva [Designing a retrospective, in Spanish]Template · Scrum Manager
📄 Ejemplo: cómo diseñar una sprint retrospective [Example: how to design a Sprint Retrospective, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2022
📄 Liderar retrospectivas y resolución de conflictos [Leading retrospectives and conflict resolution, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Dec 2022
📄 Apuntes: Agile Retrospectives [Notes: Agile Retrospectives, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Sep 2022
References
- Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.
See also
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