This is a version of the basic ‘Stop-Start-Continue’ sprint retrospective activity which can be used when there is a particular need to keep tight control over timings. Each step can be strictly time-boxed and you can adjust the time allotted in each section to suit your needs.
This tool can actually be used to run any meeting but I’ve found it to be very suitable as a sprint retrospective activity. The activity is based on a tool described in Edward de Bono’s book Six Thinking Hats. This is a parallel thinking process designed for effective group discussion and individual thinking. I saw Edward de Bono deliver a keynote presentation at the Learning Technologies conference in London a few years ago and had used the ‘Six Hats’ technique a number of times in meetings before trying to use it in a sprint retrospective.
This sprint retrospective activity is a fun way of identifying a team’s strengths and weaknesses and is based on the ‘Cool Wall’ segment of the the TV show ‘Top Gear’. In this activity, various aspects of a scrum team’s practices are presented by the scrum master and the team vote on how ‘cool’ they feel they are when it comes to that specific topic.
This simple activity can be used at the start of a sprint retrospective meeting in order to gauge people’s moods and to help the team empathise with each other.
This sprint retrospective activity is designed to help teams think of issues from the perspective of other members of the team whilst also highlighting problems and opportunities for improvements for the team.
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