Retrospective Timeline

The Retrospective Timeline is a powerful tool for revisiting the significant events of a sprint or given period. By associating these events with emotions, it allows the team to collectively reflect on the successes and challenges encountered. This game promotes continuous learning and improvement of team practices.

Walkthrough

1. 1

   Introduction and Rules

   10 min

   The facilitator welcomes the participants and briefly explains the purpose of the retrospective. They remind everyone of the basic rules: presumption of goodwill, speaking for oneself, and active listening. These rules create a safe and constructive framework for discussion.

   Tip — Use an opening ritual to make participants feel comfortable, such as thanking them for their presence.

2. 2

   Trust Vote

   5 min

   Ask participants to anonymously evaluate their freedom of expression on a scale of 1 to 5. Collect the scores and adjust the environment if necessary, for example, by removing a person perceived as threatening.

   Tip — If the level of trust is low, consider postponing the meeting and investigating underlying issues.

3. 3

   Creating the Timeline

   15 min

   Each participant writes down significant events from the sprint on post-its, associating them with emotions. They then place them chronologically on a board. The facilitator encourages discussion about the events and the associated emotions.

   Tip — Encourage participants to be precise in describing events to enrich discussions.

4. 4

   Emotional Analysis

   10 min

   The facilitator guides the team to identify emotional trends on the timeline. Discuss positive and negative emotions and their causes. This helps to understand the emotional impact of events on the team.

   Tip — Use different colours for positive and negative emotions for clear visualisation.

5. 5

   Generating Improvement Ideas

   15 min

   Based on the analysis, the team brainstorms actions to reinforce positive points and mitigate negative ones. Each idea is noted on a post-it and discussed for feasibility and potential impact.

   Tip — Limit the number of actions to prioritise to avoid overwhelming the team.

6. 6

   Action Planning

   10 min

   The team collectively chooses the actions to implement for the next sprint. Ensure that each action has a clear owner and deadline.

   Tip — Use a Kanban board to track the progress of the decided actions.

7. 7

   Closing the Retrospective

   5 min

   The facilitator thanks the participants for their contributions and summarises the agreed actions. They remind everyone of the importance of the retrospective in the continuous improvement process.

   Tip — End with a round where everyone shares a word about their feelings regarding the session.

Variants

• Use images or drawings to represent events and emotions.
• Hold the retrospective outdoors to change the environment and stimulate creativity.
• Incorporate a moment of meditation or breathing to refocus the team before starting.