What are the best practices for conducting a Retrospective?

Best practices:

• Rotate formats to keep things fresh.
• Foster psychological safety — no blaming.
• Use data and facts (velocity, defect rates) to ground discussions.
• Focus on 1-2 action items, not a wish list.
• Follow up — review actions in the next Retrospective.

Popular formats:

• Start / Stop / Continue
• Mad / Sad / Glad
• 4Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for)

Real-World Example:

A team felt retrospectives were repetitive. The Scrum Master tried a “Team Radar” activity to

visualize team health across areas like collaboration and quality. This revealed deeper

issues and sparked more meaningful discussions.

Scrum Artifacts: