Reviews, Retros & Reflection

Table of Contents

1. Workflow
2. Retrospective Formats
3. Common Patterns
4. Guardrails
5. Quick Reference

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

Retrospective Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Set the stage (context, psychological safety)
- [ ] Step 2: Gather data (what happened)
- [ ] Step 3: Generate insights (why it happened)
- [ ] Step 4: Decide actions (what to change)
- [ ] Step 5: Close and follow up (commit, track)

Step 1: Set the stage

Define period/scope, review previous action items, establish psychological safety (Prime Directive: "everyone did best job given knowledge/skills/resources/context"). For quick reviews → Use resources/template.md. For complex team retros → Study resources/methodology.md.

Step 2: Gather data

Collect facts about period: metrics (velocity, bugs, incidents), events (launches, blockers, decisions), sentiment (team energy, morale). See Retrospective Formats for collection methods.

Step 3: Generate insights

Identify patterns, root causes, surprises. Ask "why?" to move from symptoms to causes. Use resources/methodology.md for root cause techniques (5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, timeline analysis).

Step 4: Decide actions

Vote on most impactful improvements (dot voting, SMART criteria). Define 1-3 SMART actions (Specific, Measurable, Assigned owner, Realistic, Time-bound). See Common Patterns for action quality criteria.

Step 5: Close and follow up

Commit to actions, schedule check-in, thank participants. Track action completion rate (target: >80% completion before next retro). Self-check using resources/evaluators/rubric_reviews_retros_reflection.json before closing. Minimum standard: Average score ≥ 3.5.

Retrospective Formats

Start/Stop/Continue (Simple, Balanced):

• Start: What should we begin doing?
• Stop: What should we stop doing?
• Continue: What's working well, keep doing?
• When: General purpose, new teams, tight on time (30 min)

Mad/Sad/Glad (Emotion-Focused):

• Mad: What frustrated or angered you?
• Sad: What disappointed you?
• Glad: What made you happy?
• When: Processing difficult period, improving morale, surfacing hidden issues

4Ls (Comprehensive):

• Loved: What did we love?
• Learned: What did we learn?
• Lacked: What did we lack?
• Longed for: What did we long for?
• When: End of major project, quarterly reviews, want depth

Sailboat/Speedboat (Metaphor-Based):

• Wind (helping): What's propelling us forward?
• Anchor (hindering): What's slowing us down?
• Rocks (risks): What dangers lie ahead?
• Island (goal): Where are we going?
• When: Strategic planning, visualizing progress, cross-functional teams

Timeline (Chronological):

• Plot events on timeline, mark highs/lows, identify patterns
• When: Long period (quarter), complex project, need shared understanding

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Sprint Retrospective (Agile)

• Frequency: Every 1-2 weeks
• Duration: 45-90 min (shorter sprints = shorter retros)
• Focus: Process improvements, team dynamics, technical practices
• Format: Start/Stop/Continue or Mad/Sad/Glad
• Actions: 1-3 process improvements, 1 technical improvement

Pattern 2: Project Post-Mortem

• Frequency: End of project/phase
• Duration: 90-120 min
• Focus: What to repeat, what to avoid, systemic issues
• Format: 4Ls or Timeline
• Actions: Documentation updates, playbook changes, skill gaps to address

Pattern 3: Weekly Team Review

• Frequency: Weekly (Fridays common)
• Duration: 15-30 min
• Focus: Wins, blockers, priorities for next week
• Format: Custom (Wins/Blockers/Priorities)
• Actions: Blocker removal, celebrate wins, align on top 3 priorities

Pattern 4: Incident Retrospective

• Frequency: After major incidents
• Duration: 60 min
• Focus: Blameless analysis, system improvements
• Format: Timeline + 5 Whys
• Actions: Incident response improvements, monitoring/alerting, prevention

Guardrails

Psychological safety:

• Prime Directive: "Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand."
• Focus on processes/systems, not people
• No blame, no judgment, no defensiveness
• Encourage dissenting opinions
• What's said in retro stays in retro (unless actionable for others)

Quality standards:

• Action items are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Assigned, Realistic, Time-bound
• Track completion: >80% action completion before next retro (if <80%, too many actions or not committed)
• Rotate facilitator: Different person each time, prevents bias
• Time-box discussions: Don't get stuck, move on, revisit if time
• Vote for focus: Use dot voting to prioritize discussion topics

Common pitfalls to avoid:

• Too many actions: >5 actions = none get done. Focus on 1-3 high-impact items.
• Vague actions: "Improve communication" → ❌. "Daily 15-min standup in #eng-sync by Monday" → ✓
• No follow-up: Actions from last retro ignored → trust erodes, retros become theater
• Blame culture: Pointing fingers → people stop being honest
• Same issues every retro: If no progress on recurring issues, escalate to leadership

Quick Reference

Resources:

• Quick retro formats: resources/template.md
• Facilitation techniques: resources/methodology.md
• Quality rubric: resources/evaluators/rubric_reviews_retros_reflection.json

5-Stage Process: Set Stage → Gather Data → Generate Insights → Decide Actions → Close

Top Formats:

• Start/Stop/Continue: General purpose, 30 min
• Mad/Sad/Glad: Emotion processing, 45 min
• 4Ls: Deep reflection, 60 min
• Sailboat: Visual/strategic, 60 min

Action Quality: SMART criteria + <5 total + >80% completion rate

Psychological Safety: Prime Directive + Blameless + Confidential