Create a sprint retrospective facilitator guide with activities and prompts

# Sprint Retrospective Facilitator Guide **Context:** Team is feeling burned out after a tough sprint where scope crept in mid-cycle and the release was delayed by 3 days. Morale is low but the team is professional — they want to fix things, not just vent. **Sprint Duration:** 2 weeks **Team Size:** 7 people **Time:** 60 minutes --- ## Pre-Retro Preparation (Do 30 min before) - [ ] Book a room with a whiteboard or set up a Miro/FigJam board - [ ] Review sprint metrics: velocity, planned vs. delivered, bugs introduced, carryover stories - [ ] Check action items from last retro — which ones were completed? - [ ] Prepare anonymous input option (Google Form or sticky notes) for people who prefer not to speak first - [ ] Set up the board with three columns: "What drained us," "What kept us going," "What we'd change" - [ ] Have dot-vote stickers ready (5 per person) - [ ] Print or share the agenda in advance so people know what to expect --- ## Agenda | Time | Activity | Duration | |---|---|---| | 0:00 | Opening: Check-in + ground rules | 5 min | | 0:05 | Last retro action items review | 5 min | | 0:10 | Main activity: Energy Map | 25 min | | 0:35 | Dot voting + discussion | 10 min | | 0:45 | Action items | 10 min | | 0:55 | Closing: One word | 5 min | --- ## Opening: Battery Check-In (5 min) **Why this activity:** The team is drained. Acknowledging energy levels up front gives people permission to be honest and sets a tone of psychological safety. **How to run it:** 1. Draw a battery icon on the board with levels: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% 2. Ask each person: "Where's your battery at right now? Just a number, no explanation needed." 3. Note the average. Say something like: "We're at about 35% as a team. That's real, and it matters. Let's use this hour to figure out what drained us and what we can protect going forward." **Do NOT** ask people to justify their number. The power is in the honesty, not the explanation. --- ## Last Retro Action Items Review (5 min) Pull up the action items from the previous retrospective. For each one: - **Done:** Quick acknowledgment. "Nice — this one's closed." - **Not done:** No blame. Ask: "Is this still relevant? Should we carry it forward or drop it?" - **Partially done:** Acknowledge progress. Decide if it needs another sprint. **Facilitator note:** If most items are "not done," this is itself a retro topic. Don't ignore the pattern — name it gently: "I notice we've carried over 3 of 4 items. That might be worth discussing." --- ## Main Activity: Energy Map (25 min) **Why this format:** A standard "what went well / what didn't" retro will turn into a venting session given the team mood. The Energy Map reframes the conversation around energy — what gave it, what took it — which is more productive for a burned-out team. ### Setup (2 min) Draw a timeline of the sprint (Day 1 through Day 10) on the board. Add a vertical axis: "Energy high" at top, "Energy low" at bottom. ### Silent Writing (7 min) Each person writes sticky notes for moments that affected their energy — positive or negative. One moment per sticky. Include: - What happened - How it made them feel - Place it on the timeline at the right day and energy level ### Sharing Round (12 min) Go person by person (or cluster by cluster if stickies overlap): - Each person places their stickies and gives a 30-second explanation - No rebuttals during this phase — just listening and clarifying questions - Facilitator groups similar themes as they emerge ### Theme Identification (4 min) As a group, name the clusters. Typical themes for this situation: - "Scope creep without warning" - "Context switching killed focus" - "We rallied together under pressure" (positive) - "Unclear priorities from leadership" Write the theme names above each cluster. --- ## Dot Voting + Discussion (10 min) ### Voting (3 min) - Each person gets 5 dots - Vote on the themes you most want to address (can stack dots) - Top 2 themes win ### Discussion (7 min) For each of the top 2 themes, ask: 1. "What's the root cause here — not the symptom, the actual root?" 2. "What's one specific thing we could change next sprint to address this?" 3. "Who outside this team needs to be involved?" **Facilitator tip:** If the conversation drifts into blame ("Product keeps changing requirements"), redirect to what the team controls: "What could we do differently when scope changes come in? Could we push back, negotiate, buffer?" --- ## Action Items (10 min) Use the **SMART action format:** - **Specific:** What exactly will be done? - **Measurable:** How will we know it's done? - **Assigned:** Who owns it? (One person, not "the team") - **Realistic:** Can this actually happen in one sprint? - **Time-bound:** By when? **Maximum 3 action items.** More than 3 won't get done — the last retro proved this. ### Template | Action | Owner | Done When | Due Date | |---|---|---|---| | Introduce a "scope change" ritual: any mid-sprint addition requires removing an equal-sized item | Scrum Master | Process documented and followed for 1 sprint | Next sprint start | | Block 2-hour "focus time" on team calendar every morning | Tech Lead | Calendar blocks visible for all 7 members | End of week | | Schedule 15-min mid-sprint check-in with Product to surface incoming changes early | PM | First check-in completed | Day 5 of next sprint | --- ## Closing: One Word (5 min) Ask each person: "In one word, how are you leaving this retro compared to how you came in?" Go around the room. Don't comment on individual answers. After everyone has spoken, summarize: "We came in at 35% battery. It sounds like we're leaving with some concrete things to try. Let's protect these action items — they matter." --- ## Facilitator Tips for Difficult Dynamics **The Dominator:** If one person is talking too much, use a structured round-robin. "Let's hear from everyone on this — Sarah, what's your take?" **The Silent One:** Don't force participation verbally. The silent writing phase gives them a voice. If they have stickies on the board, reference them: "I see someone wrote about context switching — can whoever wrote this tell us more?" **The Blamer:** Redirect from people to systems. "It sounds like there's a gap in how scope changes get communicated. What process could help?" **The Derailer:** Park off-topic items. "That's important but outside our scope today. I'll add it to the parking lot and we can address it separately." **Tears or high emotion:** It's okay. Don't rush past it. "Thank you for sharing that. It's clear this sprint took a real toll. Let's make sure our action items address what you're describing." --- ## Follow-Up Template (Send within 24 hours) **Subject:** Sprint [X] Retro Summary — 3 Actions We're Taking **Body:** Thanks for a candid and productive retro. Here's what we agreed on: **Top themes:** [Theme 1], [Theme 2] **Action items:** [Table from above] **Parking lot items:** [Any items deferred] Next retro: [Date]. We'll start by reviewing whether these actions made a difference.