Retrospectives Deep Dive
Complete guide to Sprint Retrospectives for the PMP exam — purpose, techniques, and continuous improvement.
Sprint Retrospective
The Sprint Retrospective is a Scrum event where the team inspects itself and creates a plan for improvement. It's the primary mechanism for continuous improvement in agile.
Key Characteristics
- Time-box: Maximum 3 hours for a 1-month sprint
- Participants: Scrum Team only (not stakeholders)
- Facilitated by: Scrum Master
- Occurs: After the Sprint Review, before the next Sprint Planning
Three Key Questions
- What went well?
- What didn't go well?
- What can we improve?
Output
At least one actionable improvement to implement in the next sprint. This becomes part of the Sprint Backlog.
Retrospective vs. Lessons Learned
| Aspect | Retrospective (Agile) | Lessons Learned (Predictive) |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Every sprint | End of project/phase |
| Focus | Process improvement | Knowledge capture |
| Participants | Scrum team | Project team + stakeholders |
| Action | Immediate implementation | Documented for future projects |
Related Study Resources
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