Let’s improve our work! How can we do that? Do an Electrical Circuit retrospective helps to brainstorm improvements.
Preparation
To begin with, draw an electrical circuit. It consists of:
Light bulb: our ideas on how to improve our work (process, product, environment, etc.)
Resistor: resistance (challenges, problems) to the ideas working
Battery: actions that energize the system and help us to overcome resistance and connect ideas.
Light Bulb
Participants will have five minutes to complete this task. Ask them to write their ideas on post-its and to paste them next to the light bulb. Group similar ideas and ask someone to read them.
Resistor
Now we know the ideas, ask them about the challenges they think they’ll face in carrying them out. Again, give them five minutes to write on post-its, group similar issues and ask someone to read them.
Battery
Does everyone know the ideas and resistors at this point? Good, now it’s time to create actions. Split the team into small groups of two or three so there aren’t too many actions on the board. There should be five or six actions at the most.
Each group writes down what they consider to be the most relevant action. While posting their action on the battery, the group reads the ones already there and orders them by priority from the positive pole (most important) down to the negative pole (least).
Before they ask: Yes, they may move the actions of other groups down. And yes, the last group has the advantage that no one will move their action. Don’t worry, this is just an initial prioritization to save time.
Finalizing the Electrical Circuit
Verify with the entire team if the battery is prioritized in the right way – if not, reprioritize it according to the debate’s conclusions.
Once actions are prioritized, ask for volunteers to execute them, thus closing the circuit. It is essential for the highest priority actions to have someone responsible for their implementation.
Did you enjoy the idea?
Join us for our upcoming training to learn more about retrospectives!
