Retrospectix

Description of the workshop

Retrospectix is a comprehensive and enjoyable retrospective ceremony format based on the famous Asterix and Obelix comic strips. The template comprises an icebreaker and a review of the improvement actions that were decided upon during the previous sprint.

As for the retrospective itself, the format recommends reflecting on the recently concluded sprint along six key areas:

Obelix: The sensitive one who is unaware of his strength. What did we achieve that wasn't very fine, a little rough...?
Assurancetourix: The bearded man with the unbearable voice.
Panoramix: The druid who cooks the magic potion. What makes us stronger and helps us move forward?
Asterix: The clever and brave one. What good ideas were able to emerge during this sprint?
Julius Caesar: The undisputed and formidable adversary. What is slowing us down?
Panoramnésix: The complete madman. What are the potential risks for the future?

How to run the Retrospectix

The workshop takes place in 5 steps:

Step 1: Ice breaker

The workshop starts with an icebreaker activity where participants have to pick a character from a comic strip that best represents their current state of mind. After that, they need to indicate their general feeling about the sprint using one of the covers of Asterix and Obelix.

Step 2: Review of improvement actions defined during the previous retrospective

Step 2 consists of reviewing the improvement actions that were decided during the previous retrospective. The leaders of these actions explain what has been put in place and the impact that these changes have or will have on the team.

Step 3: Assessment of the sprint achieved

During step 3, participants are invited to rate, on a scale of 1 to 5, the progress of the sprint which has just ended, according to the following 3 criteria:

Their satisfaction with the work they have carried out (the appreciation does not relate to the work of other members of the team, but to their own work;
The pace of work (again, this is a personal feeling);
Their (personal) motivation.

Note that, as these are indicators of personal feeling, they do not have to be subject to any comments from the rest of the team. They are simply an effective and concise way of taking the pulse of the team.

Furthermore, the ideal is to carry out this measurement at each retrospective and to calculate the average of each criterion, then to report the result in a graph in order to follow their evolution over time. They are, in a way, team management indicators, which make it possible to detect trends and carry out corrective actions for continuous improvement if necessary. For example, if the work rate rating drops, this may lead to an action to reduce the number of User Stories to be included in the next Sprint.

Finally, these team indicators offer the possibility of calculating possible relationships with other operational monitoring indicators, which makes them an excellent tool for the Scrum Master.

Step 4: Retrospective of the sprint completed

The participants reflect on the sprint that has just ended according to the 6 areas of reflection proposed above.

Stay vigilant with the axis Assurancetourix, the bearded man with the unbearable voice (What annoys us?): Make sure that the participants remain kind to each other and do not pass judgment, but only share facts.

If you want participants to write down their ideas without risking influencing each other, you can use polling booth mode.