How to Conduct a Great Retro?

Dmitry Ryabchikov 10.10.2024

In the article about retrospectives, we discussed in detail why this activity is important and beneficial. We examined what is essential and debunked myths among skeptics. Now that we've decided retrospectives are a must, we suggest conducting them with SimplyRetro! It’s the perfect place for excellent and interactive meetings. Your team will surely be delighted!

Getting Started

A new retrospective starts with the settings screen. Let's say this upfront: if you don’t want to dig into the details — fair enough — just click "Start." The default settings are already sufficient to kick off a meeting following the best traditions and practices.

However, if this isn’t your first meeting, you might want to customize the board. For example, decide if you need an icebreaker or a survey. Or set stricter controls on who can join the meeting.

By the way, don’t overlook alternating templates — from experience, we know that diverse templates engage participants more from one meeting to the next. Retro stops feeling routine, and you get more opportunities to learn about your team from different perspectives.

Dear facilitator, the timer is your best friend! Don’t neglect it; use it at every stage. In our experience, dissatisfaction with such meetings often stems from drawn-out discussions.

Icebreaker

5 to 10 minutes

Suppose we stick to the default settings, and an icebreaker awaits us at the beginning. But before discussing its purpose, let us introduce the basic layout of the main parts of the board.
On the left is a panel where we see the meeting stages awaiting us. They are conveniently numbered, and completed stages are crossed out. The panel also displays all meeting participants with their email or another important identifier to see who they are. Depending on the stage, the panel will show other useful information, such as a participant’s readiness to proceed to the next stage.
Additionally, the panel, accessible only to the facilitator, includes buttons for switching stages, setting a timer, and managing access.

Now back to the icebreaker.

Icebreakers are not just trivial attempts to "cheer up" the team before discussing serious topics or a placeholder while waiting for everyone to join. They are essential tools that set participants up for dialogue and foster trust. Questions about hobbies, preferences, or travel reveal personal sides of colleagues, strengthen informal connections, and help people feel part of a unified collective. Discovering that someone in the team also loves mountain hikes or has recently read your favorite book makes it easier to see colleagues as relatable individuals.

Five to ten minutes is enough for an icebreaker. Don’t forget to set a timer! This time allows participants to adjust to communication without straying too far from the retrospective's main goal. If the team is large (10+ people), consider limiting participation to a few random members to keep the meeting concise.

It's unnecessary to question everyone. The goal is to lighten the mood and prepare the team for dialogue, not to quiz everyone. If the team is small, everyone can participate, but for a larger group, selective participation maintains the dynamic.

Some participants might feel awkward or struggle with responses. In such cases, the facilitator should ensure a comfortable atmosphere. For example, offer the participant the option to pass, but always ask if they're okay with it first. Remind everyone that participation is optional and they can engage as much as they're comfortable.

Respond to participants' answers with enthusiasm and genuine interest. This creates a positive atmosphere and encourages others to participate more actively. If someone shares something funny or unusual, a light joke or compliment can bring participants closer together and make the icebreaker more lively. The key is to keep the icebreaker light and casual. It shouldn't be stressful or feel like a mandatory procedure. Its purpose is to prepare the team for communication and reinforce a sense of unity before diving into the main discussion.

Survey

Around 1 minute

An anonymous survey helps the team and the manager gain a more objective view of current processes and team atmosphere, minimizing subjectivity that may arise during discussions. This is a very powerful tool that complements retrospectives. Don’t ignore it.

Regularly filling out surveys allows the service to show a dynamic chart that not only evaluates the current state but also tracks changes over time. This provides an opportunity to observe the impact of implemented changes, identify long-term trends, and respond promptly to declines in key indicators. For example, decreased motivation or increased obstacles may signal systemic problems requiring immediate resolution. Metrics like these help the team act proactively.

Keep an eye on the participant list — it will indicate who has completed the survey and when it’s time to move to the next stage.

Ensure participants understand in advance that the survey is anonymous and its results are used to improve team performance. This helps avoid distrust and encourages honest answers. Remind them that criticizing processes is normal, and the goal of the survey is to identify growth points.

Review of Previous Actions

Around 3 minutes

From previous meetings, you likely have action items that you committed to completing. Understandably, these are often forgotten. That’s why their review must be part of the meeting. At this stage, actions can be updated, reassigned, or transferred to other team members.

Reflection

Around 10 minutes

Reflection is the most important stage. Here, participants, in complete anonymity, write down their thoughts, reflect on the last sprint, ponder processes, and propose solutions. Participants can’t see what others are writing — their colleagues’ cards are hidden. This encourages deeper reflection. The service also makes it easy to add GIFs or images to the cards.

During this stage, the facilitator can highlight key achievements, challenges, and problems the team faced to inspire colleagues and encourage contributions. Participants should be reminded to break their thoughts into multiple cards instead of cramming them into one. This makes later processing easier. Participants can also choose to make their cards non-anonymous, but this should never be required to ensure honest feedback!

Dedicate enough time to writing, about 7–10 minutes. Even if most participants seem finished, give them a couple of extra minutes. Emphasize the importance of honesty and anonymity to ensure participants feel safe expressing themselves.

Grouping

Around 3 minutes

Grouping is a very enjoyable stage! First, all cards become visible, with anonymity intact. Since similar cards will likely appear, they can be grouped immediately. Simply drag one card onto another to create a stack, which can then be named. AI will even help suggest a title.

This process is collaborative — encourage participants not to hesitate when grouping cards. It’s perfectly fine to group cards from different columns; this helps examine issues from various perspectives.

Voting

Around 3 minutes

Once the cards are grouped (or even if not), the next stage is voting. Each participant gets several votes to allocate to the most critical topics. This ensures the team discusses what matters most to everyone first. This step is also crucial for managers, as it reveals team priorities. Other topics shouldn't be ignored but prioritized accordingly.

The number of votes is calculated automatically based on the number of cards on the board. Participants can allocate all their votes to a single card if they wish — even their own. This ensures an overall objective evaluation. However, you can impose voting restrictions in the settings if needed.

Check the participant list to see who has voted and who is still undecided. Once everyone has voted, proceed to the final stage.

Discussion

Around 20 minutes

Now, having gathered all the information and highlighted key points, it’s time to discuss everything. Start by reviewing survey results and trends over time. The facilitator comments briefly on each attribute. There’s no need to justify or immediately solve problems if scores are low. Just acknowledging the issues assures the team they won’t be ignored.

After discussing the survey, move to the top-priority topic. Usually, the team spends most time here, but try not to exceed 5–6 minutes per topic to leave time for others.

For each topic, we recommend the following facilitator steps:

• Read all cards aloud
• If the facilitator is the manager or team leader, provide a brief comment
• Allow participants to share their thoughts verbally but avoid asking, "Whose card is this?" to preserve retrospective effectiveness
• Add a note to the action plan — this doesn’t have to be a solution yet, just summarize the problem for later resolution

At the end of the meeting, don’t forget to click "Finish" to generate the retrospective report, allow participants to leave anonymous feedback, and receive the report via email.

What Else?

The "Next Stage" button is reasonably "smart"! It will suggest when you can move to the next stage. When fully filled, it means all participants have completed the required actions. However, it’s still a good idea to confirm verbally or through a vote.

Use anonymous polls to collect instant feedback!