Retrospective meetings can help teams grow and improve. Whether you schedule them at important project milestones or at the end of a big event like an annual conference or sales meeting, they let team members reflect on what went well and how they can improve next time.

The problem with retros, though, is that they can sometimes be incredibly boring. To avoid this, Sarah Goff-Dupont, a principal writer for Atlassian, has some techniques that can help you make the most of your retrospectives. Keep reading this issue of PromoPro Daily, where we highlight her exercises.

Major milestones. Gather your team in front of a whiteboard and draw a horizontal line. Then, Goff-Dupont says, ask team members to mark the big wins, the challenges and anything else that was significant during the project.

Start, stop, continue. This retrospective technique gets everyone talking about what they should start doing, what they should stop doing and what they should keep doing. Goff-Dupont recommends spending just 10 minutes on each part.

Liked, loathed, lacked, learned. This strategy follows the same format as the one above. Spend about 10 minutes on every part. Goff-Dupont says this 4Ls technique is helpful for personal retrospectives, too.

Mad, sad, glad. This technique focuses on how the work made you and your team feel. Think about what made you angry, disappointed and happy. Don’t think it’s a woo-woo exercise, Goff-Dupont says. It can help you and your team uncover what works well and what causes unnecessary friction.

Five whys. If something didn’t go as planned, this technique gets to the heart of the issue by asking “why” five times. Goff-Dupont says it’s helpful because teams sometimes don’t dig deep enough, and as a result, don’t come up with the best long-term solutions.

Sailboat. Get creative in this retrospective technique by thinking of your last project as a sailboat. According to Goff-Dupont, you’ll work together to identify the rocks (risks and challenges), anchors (problems that held you back), wind (what helped push the team forward) and land (your vision for the next project).

Wait, so what, now what. Instead of only looking back, this technique helps your team also look forward. Think about something that happened during the project (what), the impact it had (so what) and what steps you’ll take now (now what).

Energy levels. There’s work that makes you feel energized and enthusiastic, Goff-Dupont says, and there’s work that makes you feel completely drained and depleted. With this technique, think about your team like a battery. When did you feel fully charged, what drained your energy, and what does your energy level look like for the next project?

Dot voting. This technique gives your team some clarity on what improvements you’ll prioritize. Goff-Dupont suggests listing ideas on a whiteboard and having everyone place a dot (or any symbol) on the three ideas they’d like to see at the top of the list.

Don’t let your retrospective meetings turn into a gripe session or a lackluster recap. Try some techniques like the “stop, start, continue” strategy to keep the conversation moving and engaging.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Sarah Goff-Dupont is a principal writer for Atlassian.