The Golden Girls Retrospective

Welcome to the Golden Girls Retrospective! We used this retro to look back at several months of Scrum. One of our team members left whose favorite show is Golden Girls, so we used this theme for our retro to celebrate and send her off.

This board is designed to do a comprehensive and engaging retrospective session for your Scrum team, drawing inspiration from the beloved TV show, "The Golden Girls." This template is tailored for product managers, project managers, and engineers to reflect on their past sprints, celebrate successes, and identify areas for improvement.

Overview

The Golden Girls Retrospective board is divided into several sections, each named after a character from the show. Each section prompts the team to discuss specific aspects of their Scrum process, ensuring a thorough and structured review. The board also includes interactive elements like dot voting and drag-and-drop tokens to make the session more dynamic and participatory.

Sections

The Dorothy: I Could Vomit Just Looking at You

• Purpose:

  Identify the worst story from Scrum.

• Instructions:

  Team members share the most challenging or frustrating story they encountered. Use dot voting to select the story that resonates the most with the team.

The Blanche: Isn't It Amazing How I Can Look So Good But Feel So Bad?

• Purpose:

  Discuss the story the team struggled with the most.

• Instructions:

  Reflect on the tasks that seemed promising but turned out to be problematic. Use dot voting to highlight the most significant struggle.

The Sophia: Have I Given You Any Indication That I Care?

• Purpose:

  Nominate the task that was repeatedly put in the backlog or avoided.

• Instructions:

  Identify tasks that were deprioritized or neglected. Discuss whether to keep, ditch, or reconsider them.

The Rose: I Feel Like Crawling Under the Covers and Eating Velveeta Out of the Box

• Purpose:

  Share the story the team is most embarrassed about.

• Instructions:

  Openly discuss the tasks or stories that didn't go as planned and why. Use dot voting to select the most embarrassing story.

How to use this template

1. Preparation: Ensure all team members are familiar with the sections and prompts. In advance, distribute the link to the retrospective board.

2. Golden Girls scale: Before you begin discussing, have each team member place an award on the scale to represent their overall sentiment.

3. Discussion: Facilitate the discussion by going through each section one by one as outlined above. Encourage open and honest communication.

4. Dot voting: After discussing each section, use the Oscars tokens to vote on the most impactful tickets/stories.

5. Action items: Summarize the key takeaways and action items. Assign responsibilities and set deadlines for follow-up.

By following these steps, your team can effectively use the Golden Girls Retrospective board to reflect on their Scrum process, celebrate achievements, and identify areas for improvement. This structured and engaging approach ensures a productive and enjoyable retrospective session.