The Best Way to Facilitate a Retrospective Meeting

Retrospectives allow you and your colleagues to give honest feedback on how things can be improved. Alternatively, after a project goes live, a retrospective is held to identify what went well, what needs improvement, and what actions to undertake. In most cases, stakeholders are to participate in a retrospective. Therefore, your team should receive constructive feedback and actionable outcomes during a successful retrospective meeting. But what is the best way to facilitate a retrospective meeting? 

The meeting should be a place for your team to network and help each other improve continuously. Furthermore, it should encourage active listening and allow each team member to participate. Finally, it requires strong communication skills from both the participants and the facilitators. Continue reading below to know the best way to facilitate a retrospective meeting. 

1. Advance Preparation

In advance of the meeting, members may want to create a shared document outlining the agenda and some discussion areas. Use templates for your team to fill in what went well and what needs to be improved in the document. Also, using sticky notes to gather thoughts might be helpful. 

2. Engage your entire team

It is the facilitator’s responsibility to make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak. To allow this give everyone a set amount of time and let them know there is a lot to go through. 

3. Follow-up actions

An effective facilitator ensures that everyone leaves the retrospective with a shared understanding of what is next. At the end of the meeting, ensure the facilitator summarises those critical action items. By doing so, your team will be able to take note of the essential actions they should take. 

Therefore, retrospectives work best when team members participate, as well as when they walk away from it confident and on the same page. 

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The information contained in this blog is general in nature. Therefore, if you are unsure how this applies to you, please contact us at VeiraMal Consulting. Our HR Consultants will be happy to guide you through this.