Learn how the phases of a sticky note retro work from the participant's point of view.
The most traditional and well-known retrospective style is one where team members add sticky notes to labeled columns. A Retrium retrospective works in the same way. A facilitator will move your team through the five different phases of this retrospective activity.
Learn more in this article if you'll be facilitating a retro.
Retrospective Phases in Retrium
Think Phase
Before getting started, the facilitator will have the opportunity to modify column titles and descriptions.
During the Think phase, everyone has a chance to share their thoughts once instructed to do so. Participants can click Create a note under each column to add as many notes as they want.
Note during the Think phase that:
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You'll be able to see your own notes, but other participants' notes will be blurred out. This is to minimize groupthink and allow everyone to brainstorm without the influence of others.
- When the team is ready to move on, the facilitator will move the team to the Group phase. This is automatic and your screen will follow along.
Group Phase
As part of the Group phase, everyone can drag and drop notes that fit together into themes or topics they want to discuss together. Add titles to card groups to help stay organized.
💡 Grouping is collaborative, so everyone in the retro can group cards and edit group titles.
To group cards during this phase:
- Click and drag a card to the desired location. The dots on the side of the card indicate that the card can be moved. As a card is moved, it will become opaque until the card is released in its new location. Cards can be moved across columns.
- You can give grouped cards a title to capture the collective thought behind the group. Click on the words Group Title and rename as desired.
When the team is ready to move on, the facilitator will move the team to the Vote phase. This is automatic and your screen will follow along.
Vote Phase
The Vote phase utilizes dot voting. Each person will get the same number of votes and can select how they would like to distribute their votes among the topics (grouped cards or individual cards) on the board.
The number of votes each participant receives for the retrospective is calculated by Retrium based on the best practices formula from Agile retrospective experts. The number of votes for each person is equal to the square root of the total number of topics (grouped or individual) in that particular retrospective. For example, the square root of 16 possible topics for discussion = four votes per person.
This means that the number of votes will change from retrospective to retrospective, depending on the number of topics available to discuss.
💡 Anyone in the retrospective can opt out of voting by clicking the Abstain button at the top of the screen. This can be used by the facilitator if they feel they don’t want to influence the vote or by participants who don’t have enough information to contribute to the voting phase.
To vote during this phase:
- Add your votes using the + (plus) icon above the topic.
- You can remove your votes by hovering over the dot vote and clicking the X.
When the team is ready to move on, the facilitator will move the team to the Discuss phase. This is automatic and your screen will follow along.
Discuss Phase
When entering the Discuss phase, the topics will no longer appear in columns, but instead, the topic with the most votes will appear for discussion first.
💡 Your facilitator may set a timer during the Discuss phase (or other phases as they see fit) to help keep the team on track. You can see the remaining time in the nav bar at the bottom of your screen.
During the discussion, anyone can add action items by clicking + Add an action item in the upper righthand corner of the page. You can also add an Ambassador to be responsible for any action item.
💡 What makes a great Action Item? We recommend adding the name of the person responsible, the task, and the due date.
For more tips, tricks, and guidance on how to make a great action item, check out our Ultimate Guide to Agile Retrospectives - Action Items.
Some things to note for the Discuss phase:
- The topics are automatically ordered based on the number of votes (from most to least), and the team can choose how many they would like to discuss.
- After your retrospective, you can review action items on the Team Room Home tab and in the Team Room History tab.
- When the team is ready to move on, the facilitator will move the team to the Wrap Up phase. This is automatic and your screen will follow along.
Wrap Up Phase
The Wrap Up phase is intended for you to rate the retro you just completed. Participants will have one vote to cast a rating on a scale of 1-5, answering the question, "Was this retro worth our time?" These votes are anonymous.
💡 Rating something a three is not bad. If something is worth your time, that's a breakeven point and leaves room for improvement!
When everyone has completed voting, the facilitator can reveal the results to see the average score and a list of recommendations for what to do with this information. These results are also stored in the Team Room History tab, making it easy to view changes over time.
There are also a number of actions that can be taken after a retro has been completed; click here to learn more!
Want some tips on how to level up your retrospectives? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Agile Retrospectives for advice on running engaging retrospectives. And don't hesitate to contact us if there's anything we can do to help!