Hi there,
Congratulations! You’re going to be a retro facilitator.
Hopefully, yes? Sometime soon?
It’s up to you!
Last week, we explored how to identify when you’re ready to conduct a retro for your project or team.
Today, we’ll be diving into the key responsibilities of leading an effective retro.
Spoiler Alert: It’s kind of a big deal.
PS: We’ll be off next week and back in your inbox on Thursday 12/5. 🦃
⚡ Supercharge of the Week
Remote Octopus recommends that a retro facilitator sets aside time to prepare for the responsibilities of the role, including how to best anchor the team in psychological safety.
A retro is often at its most streamlined when it is led by one clear facilitator.
The facilitator is typically the project’s Responsible person in RACI. A more general team retrospective will likely be facilitated by the team lead. However, sometimes a facilitator might be a trusted colleague stepping in to facilitate the conversation even if they did not support the project directly.
Ideally, the facilitator needs to be:
Comfortable presenting in front of large audiences.
Confident in facilitating tough, respectful conversations.
Modeling and engaging in best practices for inclusion and accessibility.
Modeling and anchoring the team in psychological safety.
Ready to dive in?
As the facilitator, let’s ensure you have the answer to three more questions:
1️⃣ What retro format will we use?
Remote Octopus recommends The Retro Template – it captures key questions all within one Google Doc. Different retro formats might focus on different questions, such as the Starfish technique or 4Ls from Atlassian.
Quick note: You might consider testing 2-3 different retro formats to see which one best meets the needs of your team. Once you identify a retro format that fits, model continuity and reliability by continuing to leverage that one template as much as possible. It builds psychological trust and ensures project stakeholders become familiar with the reflection process.
2️⃣ Where will our retro template and notes live?
A retro facilitator takes notes during the conversation, typically into a template mentioned above, in order to streamline knowledge documentation.
Many teams find Google Docs to be easy-to-use. Others might use Notion or embed retro notes directly into a project management tool such as Asana or Jira. Identify what will work best for your team.
Remember, retro conversations are confidential and wherever you store the retro template should reflect that team need.
3️⃣ How will you share the team’s action items and learnings?
A key deliverable of the retro is identifying action items. It’s these action items that drive the continuous improvement moving forward. A retro will also likely identify key cross-functional learnings to drive efficiency.
Achieve clarity on if and how you will share your specific action items and learnings. This is likely a discussion to have with your manager.
For example, a cross-functional team might highlight key [anonymous/confidential] project learnings on an internal comms channel so all teams might benefit. Or the facilitator of a team retro might input specific action items directly into the team’s project management tool.
🤩 Are you feeling excited to retro?! Next week we’ll hop into how to get your team just as amped up as you are. (We promise, we’ll eventually get to leading the actual retro, but laying a strong foundation is just as important!)
👀 ICYMI
🐙 Remote Octopus Resources
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