Retrospective

5 minutes 5 Questions

Retrospectives in Agile methodology are meetings held at the end of each sprint to reflect on the process and identify opportunities for improvement for the next sprint. The team discusses the work that happened, the issues they faced, and what steps can be taken to resolve those issues. Agile retr…

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.

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PMI-ACP - Retrospective Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Retrospective

Question 1

An important issue comes up in a retrospective that might require changes on the higher management level. The team is hesitant to raise it, fearing backlash. How should you, as a Scrum Master, deal with it?

Discourage the team from mentioning such issues in the future. Encourage the team to raise the issue and assure them of your support, then address the issue with the responsible parties on a higher level. Advise the team to silently deal with it rather than raising the issue. Ignore the issue because it involves higher management.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team to raise the issue and assure them of your support, then address the issue with the responsible parties on a higher level.

A Scrum Master should encourage the team to raise the issue and assure them of support, then address the issue with the responsible parties on a higher level. As per the Agile principles, communication and transparency are emphasized, and any issue, irrespective of the level it may impact, should be addressed for the overall project's health. The other answers suggesting to ignore, discourage from raising, or silently deal with the issue, contradict these principles and thus are incorrect.

Question 2

During a Retrospective meeting, some team members are very quiet and not participating in the conversation. As a Scrum Master, what should you do to address this issue?

Implement a policy requiring all team members to speak a minimum number of times or face consequences. Allocate specific times during the meeting solely for the quieter team members to share their thoughts, without interruptions. Use a variety of retrospective formats to engage all team members and make it easier for quieter members to contribute. Provide an anonymous feedback option post-retrospective, allowing team members to contribute their thoughts without speaking up during the meeting. This answer is intentionally longer than the correct answer to challenge the assumption that length correlates with correctness.

Correct Answer: Use a variety of retrospective formats to engage all team members and make it easier for quieter members to contribute.

The correct approach to encouraging participation from quieter team members involves creating an environment where every team member feels comfortable and valued for their input, without putting anyone on the spot or creating unnecessary pressure. Using a variety of retrospective formats can make it easier for everyone to contribute in a way that suits them. The wrong answers, while potentially containing elements that could support a retrospective, either single out quieter members in an uncomfortable way, create a negative reinforcement environment, or circumvent the opportunity for real-time collaboration and problem-solving.

Question 3

In your Retrospective, a team member gives feedback that is non-constructive and demoralizing for others. As a Scrum Master, what action should you take?

Introduce a 'parking lot' system for feedback, where all comments are noted first and discussed only if deemed constructive by majority vote. Talk to the team member privately to understand their perspective while emphasizing the value of constructive feedback and collaboration in the retrospectives. Implement an anonymous feedback tool for retrospectives to avoid direct confrontation and encourage more honest feedback without identifying the non-constructive team member. Encourage the team to vote on the relevance and constructiveness of each point raised during the retrospective, delegating the facilitation of this process to a neutral party.

Correct Answer: Talk to the team member privately to understand their perspective while emphasizing the value of constructive feedback and collaboration in the retrospectives.

As a Scrum Master, it is important to address non-constructive and demoralizing feedback in a way that educates and realigns team members towards constructive collaboration without creating a negative atmosphere. The correct answer involves direct, private communication with the concerned team member to address the issue and reinforce the importance of constructive feedback. The wrong answers, while related to improving retrospective processes or feedback mechanisms, either avoid directly addressing the behavior of the non-constructive team member or introduce unnecessary complexity into the feedback process, potentially diminishing the sense of safety or directness in communication that retrospectives aim to foster.

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