Retrospective With Commitments

A simple retrospective template to reflect on your successes and failures and choose what experiments to commit to in the next iteration.

How to facilitate [60 min]

1. [5 min] Give everyone time to submit their stickies async or at the beginning of the meeting

2. [10 min] Start with the "Celebrate" section to acknowledge hard work and create a space for peer recognition

3. [30 min] Move clockwise through other sections. Ask team members to share, +1 ideas and observations that resonate with them. As the team discusses each section, capture ideas for Action. Use a timer to time-box the discussion to at least 10 minutes per section (depending on the team and project size you might need to have more time per section).

4. [5 min] Give everyone some time to reflect individually on the most impactful Actions the team can take to improve in the next iteration.

5. [5 min] Create a voting session: select the area with Ideas for Action and give people at least 2 minutes to choose the most impactful and timely ideas they want to focus on in the next few sprints. Use the formula to decide how many votes per person you need: [number of ideas] / 2 + 1.

6. [5 min] Wrap up the meeting by announcing top-voted ideas and moving them to the Commitment section. If the idea is too broad, add a stickie clarifying the first step to make it actionable and realistic to accomplish. Make sure to ask for volunteers or assign the owners of the chosen ideas to gain momentum.

Happy iterating!