Sprint Retrospective
DE: Sprint-Retrospektive
A meeting at the end of a sprint to reflect on the process and plan improvements.
Detailed Explanation
The Sprint Retrospective is a meeting held at the end of each sprint where the Scrum Team inspects itself and creates a plan for improvements. It typically follows a structured format: What went well? What did not go well? What will we improve next sprint?
The retrospective focuses on the process, not the product (that is the sprint review's job). It examines how the sprint went with regard to people, relationships, processes, and tools. The output is actionable improvement items that the team commits to implementing in the next sprint.
Retrospectives are the engine of continuous improvement in Scrum. Without them, teams stagnate. The Scrum Master facilitates to ensure psychological safety — team members must feel safe to share honest feedback without fear of blame or repercussions.
Key Points
- Held at the end of every sprint without exception
- Examines process, people, and tools — not the product
- Structured: What went well? What to improve? Action items?
- Output: concrete improvement commitments for next sprint
- Scrum Master facilitates and ensures psychological safety
- Engine of continuous improvement in Scrum
Practical Example
Sprint 7 retrospective: Well — pair programming reduced bugs by 30%. Not well — sprint started with unclear requirements causing 2 days of confusion. Improve — Product Owner will provide acceptance criteria 2 days before sprint planning. Action item owners assigned, deadline: Sprint 8 planning meeting. The team follows up in Sprint 8's retro.
Tips for Learning and Applying
Vary the retrospective format to keep it fresh — try different activities
Limit to 2-3 actionable improvements per sprint — quality over quantity
Follow up on previous improvements — track whether they actually happened
Create a blame-free environment — focus on processes, not people
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