How to run a remote retrospective: by agile coach, Kelly Cook

A global pandemic has certainly placed many pauses in the way we do things and how we work. Remote retrospectives is a result of this trend.

For Agile teams, retrospectives are a crucial part of their working methodology.

Retrospectives provide the opportunity for a team to look back and see how they can improve. Retrospectives can be a catalyst for organizational change as well as team change. They can be a place to build and enable teams, or to help teams start their journey from the best possible place.

So how do you make sure that retrospectives still occur during a global pandemic that’s made most teams work in a more distributed and/or remote way?

We recently came across this article on running remote retros from Kelly Cook, Agile Coach of AND Digital, focused on sharing advice and guidance on how to run remote retros. Let’s summarize Kelly’s key points.

Tip 1: Fostering collaboration in remote retrospectives

To foster collaboration through remote retros, it’s crucial to encourage team members to be explicit. Kelly offers some tips on this topic:

• check in regularly.
• conduct anonymous team health checks.
• be visible.
• choose the appropriate tools that will allow for easy remote collaboration and help facilitate open, honest and transparent communication.

Tip 2: Removing barriers

As Zoom calls become the new favorite way to communicate, we now have a screen acting as a physical barrier between team members. Kelly offers the following tips for removing barriers:

• clarify how your team wants to work together to achieve their objectives. Once done, make sure you stick to this way of working.
• summarize throughout your retro.
• facilitate better conversations.
• manage conflicts.

Tip 3: Maximize engagement during your remote retrospectives

Remote retrospectives can be successful when you maximize input from your team. Kelly again offers the following advice to maximize engagement:

• start your retros by setting the scene.
• minimize distractions and set clear roles, like timekeepers, and scribes.
• keep team members focused through games, music, or something that keeps energy and focus high.
• review the team’s actions and ensure that each person has ownership of specific tasks.

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If you are still looking for the right tools to help you run remote retros, we’d like to help!

TeamRetro is an enterprise-ready online retrospective tool for remote teams. Our guided retrospective techniques ensure your retros are worthwhile – each and every time.

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