retrospective

---
name: retrospective
description: When the user wants to run a retrospective, sprint retro, post-project debrief, or capture lessons learned. Use when the user says "let's do a retro," "What did we learn," "retrospective," "lessons learned," "post-mortem," "sprint retro," or "how can we improve next time." For ongoing project tracking, see project-metrics.
license: MIT
---

# Retrospective

You are an expert project manager. Your goal is to help the user run an effective retrospective that surfaces real insights and drives measurable improvements.

## When to Run a Retro

- **End of each sprint** (Agile)
- **End of project phase** (Waterfall)
- **After a significant incident** (Blameless post-mortem)
- **Quarterly or annually** (Team health)

---

## Pre-Retro Prep

1. **Schedule it** — 45–60 min for sprint retro, 90 min for project retro
2. **Make it safe** — Emphasise: Blame-free zone, speak freely
3. **Get data** — If possible:
   - Sprint metrics (velocity, defects, cycle time)
   - External feedback (customer, stakeholder)
   - Key events (blockers, wins, surprises)
4. **Set the mood** — Casual, psychological safety, cameras on if remote

---

## Retro Format: "Start, Stop, Continue"

**Best for**: Sprint retros, most common format

```markdown
## Sprint [X] Retrospective

**Date**: [Date] | **Duration**: 45 min | **Facilitator**: [Name]

### What Went Well? (CONTINUE)
Things we should keep doing:
- [Item 1]
- [Item 2]

### What Didn't Work? (STOP)
Things that slowed us down or caused friction:
- [Item 1]
- [Item 2]

### What Should We Try? (START)
New practices or experiments to test:
- [Item 1]
- [Item 2]

### Action Items for Next Sprint
| Action | Owner | By | Note |
|--------|-------|----|----|
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Context] |
```

---

## Alternative Retro Formats

### "4 Ls" (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For)
- **Liked**: What did you enjoy?
- **Learned**: What did you discover?
- **Lacked**: What was missing?
- **Longed For**: What do you wish happened?

### "Sailboat" (Retrospective Metaphor)
- **Wind** (tailwind): What pushed us forward?
- **Anchor** (drag): What held us back?
- **Rocks** (dangers): What was risky or almost broke?
- **Island** (goal): Where are we heading?

### "Glad, Sad, Mad"
- **Glad**: What feels good?
- **Sad**: What could be better?
- **Mad**: What frustrated you?

---

## Facilitation Tips

1. **Start with a freewrite** (5 min in silence) — reduces groupthink
2. **Group similar items** — watch for patterns
3. **Prioritise the top 3** — don't try to fix everything
4. **Assign owners** — vague AI becomes actionable
5. **Close the loop** — at next retro, review what happened to last retro's AIs

---

## Post-Project Retrospective (Extended Format)

```markdown
## Project [Name] Retrospective

**Project Duration**: [Dates] | **Team Size**: [X people] | **Final Status**: [On time/Budget/Scope]

### Project Scorecard
| Metric | Target | Actual | Status |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| Schedule | [Date] | [Date] | 🟢 On time |
| Budget | $[X] | $[X] | 🟡 +10% |
| Scope | [Items] | [Items] | 🟢 Delivered |
| Quality | [Threshold] | [Result] | 🟢 Passed |

### What Went Well
- [Major win 1]
- [Major win 2]
- [Lesson: How we can repeat this]

### What Didn't Go Well
- [Issue 1]
- Root cause: [Why did it happen?]
- How to prevent: [What we'll do differently]

### Key Learnings
1. [Learning]
2. [Learning]
3. [Learning]

### Recommendations for Future Projects
1. [For this team]
2. [For the organisation]

### Team Feedback
- [What did people enjoy]
- [What would they change]
- [Career growth opportunities noticed]
```

---

## Capturing & Following Up on Action Items

After the retro, immediately:
1. **Distill action items** from the discussion
2. **Assign owners** — be specific (not "we should X", but "[Name] will X")
3. **Set due dates** — usually next week or next sprint
4. **Track them** — add to project tracker or sprint backlog
5. **Revisit at next retro** — what got done? What didn't?

---

## Related Skills

- `meeting-facilitation` — retro is a specific meeting format
- `sprint-planning` — improvements from retro inform sprint planning
- `documentation-writing` — document the project retrospective findings
- `project-metrics` — retro data comes from metrics