Exam Guide: Understanding and Answering Questions on Retrospectives

The retrospective is a significant aspect of continuous improvement in the PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute Agile Certified Practitioner).

Why it's important:
Retrospectives are vital as they provide teams with an opportunity for reflection, learning from past experiences, and making improvements based on these learnings. This approach aligns with the key agile principle of continuous improvement.

What it is:
A retrospective, in agile, is a meeting held at the end of each iteration or sprint where team members reflect on what happened, discuss what went well and what didn’t, and determine how things can be improved in the next iterations.

How it works:
Retrospectives generally follow a three-step process:
1. What went well?
2. What didn’t go well?
3. What could we do differently to improve?
The primary goal is not only to identify problems but to find solutions and create a plan for implementing those solutions.

Exam Tips - Answering Questions on Retrospective:
Questions about retrospectives can center around its purpose, structure, and benefits. They may also focus on how to effectively facilitate a retrospective.
1. Understand that the key purpose of retrospectives is continuous improvement.
2. Ensure that you can identify and explain steps of conducting retrospectives.
3. Recognize the importance of openness, respect, and collaboration during retrospectives.
4. Realize the retrospective is not a blame game but an opportunity to learn and improve.
5. Be ready to provide examples of how a team can use the outcomes of retrospective for future performance enhancement.