Different Retrospective Scenarios: Choosing the Best Approach for Your Team

Retrospective is a crucial phase in the life of any Agile team. It's a time to review the past, identify areas for improvement, and plan for the future. The modern Agile community has proposed numerous diverse approaches to conducting retrospectives, each with its own unique benefits and advantages.

1. "Good-Bad-Action"

This approach involves team members discussing the positive and negative aspects of the previous sprint, as well as taking specific actions for improvement. It's a structured method that encourages objective review and deriving valuable insights.

2. "Start-Stop-Continue"

In this scenario, participants identify what they want to start, stop, and continue doing in future iterations. It's a simplified method that helps focus attention on specific actions to improve outcomes.

3. "Mad-Sad-Glad"

In this approach, participants express their negative (mad, sad) and positive (glad) emotions regarding the past sprint. This helps identify factors influencing the team's mood and draw conclusions for future actions.

4. "Wishes, Complaints, Appreciations"

This approach allows participants to voice their wishes, complaints, and appreciations regarding the team's work. It fosters open exchange of thoughts and creates a positive atmosphere.

5. "5 Whys"

In this method, participants analyze the root causes of problems by asking five consecutive "why" questions. This helps identify the underlying factors leading to issues and understand how to address them.

Each of these scenarios has its unique advantages and can be used depending on the specifics of the team and its needs. Choose the one that best fits your situation and make your retrospectives even more effective!