A project retrospective is a structured meeting held at the end of a project or a project phase, during which team members gather to reflect on the completed work.
The main purpose is to identify what went well, what didn’t go as planned, and how processes can be improved for future projects.
Use the following questions to explore what worked well and what could have been done differently.
| Who | … was most affected? … should we be celebrating for their hard work? … would enable us to make better decisions? … has skills or talents that are being underutilised? … could help us when we get stuck? … could provide fresh insights given the opportunity? … would benefit from mentorship? … haven’t we collaborated with recently? |
| What | … was the biggest challenge we faced? … part of our workflow slowed us down? … action did we take that had the most impact? … did we not do that we should have done? … did we learn in the last iteration? … is our data or metrics showing and telling us? … tools or processes were most valuable to us? … feedback did we receive from our users or customers? |
| Where | … are the bottlenecks in our workflow? … do we see quality issues arising? … are we spending the most unplanned effort? … can we optimise how we communicate? … are we missing opportunities? … are we lacking visibility or transparency in our work? … can we be ruthless and remove bureaucracy? … could we benefit from additional training? |
| When | … do we feel pressure or stress in our work? … are we most productive? … do we communicate most effectively? … did we encounter conflict within the team? … did we last review our working practices? … should we seek external expertise and input? … do we identify problems and issues? … did we last make time for learning and development? |
| Why | … did certain tasks take longer than expected? … did a specific event or incident happen? … are we facing the same recurring issue? … do we excel in some areas but not others? … are or are not enjoying our work? … are or are not we delivering value consistently? … did we get a specific piece of feedback? |
| How | … might we deliver more value? … could we work better together? … could we be more effective? … could we better handle unplanned work? … could we ensure we build or deliver the right things? … can we maintain a sustainable pace? … might we ensure that everyone is heard equally? |
