Retrospectives

Conducting regular reviews to discuss what went well, what didn't, and how to improve.

Also Known As

After-Action Review
Continuous Feedback (in Extreme Programming)
Continuous Improvement (in Lean Software Development)
Kaizen (in Lean Software Development)
Lessons Learned
Post-Mortem
Sprint Retrospective (in Scrum)

Addresses / Mitigates

Coordination Risk: Identifies and addresses coordination issues through regular reviews.
Process Risk: Continuously improves processes and practices.
Feature-Drift Risk: Captures feedback and adjusts features to meet evolving needs.

Attendant Risks

Schedule Risk: Requires coordination and can disrupt regular workflows.

Used By

Extreme Programming: XP relies on continuous feedback from tests, customers, and developers to improve the software.
Lean Software Development: Lean regularly reflects on and improves the development process through continuous improvement and Kaizen.
Scrum: Retrospectives are a key part of Scrum for continuous improvement.

Description

"A retrospective is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past." - Retrospective, Wikipedia

In agile software development, retrospectives are regular meetings where the team reflects on what went well, what didn't, and how they can improve. These meetings are crucial for continuous improvement, fostering a culture of learning, and enhancing team collaboration and performance.