The Sprint Retrospective for Developers – Part 2

What Does the Developer Gain from the Sprint Retrospective?

In addition to contributing, each member of the Scrum team also gains something from the Sprint Retrospective. This includes the developer role. Most obviously, developers hear what other team members thought of the previous sprint. This includes both other developers, as well as the other roles represented on the Scrum team. While hearing the opinions of others may not sound like much of a benefit, it can help the team to operate with better cohesion. What one developer thought was bad maybe because of a misunderstanding. The other developers can explain a practice, perhaps a better way to satisfy conditions while keeping the same behavior.

Outside of their own role, developers hear what other roles thought was good or bad about the previous sprint. In some cases, this can be about developer behaviors. Between two options that are equally convenient for developers, one may be far superior to the other for different roles. In situations like this, it would be better for developers to use the option that is easier or better for other roles since it does not inconvenience the developers.

Most cases are less clear. Options may be slightly more difficult for developers, but offer more benefits for other roles. These situations without a clearly better option should be discussed in the Sprint Retrospective. The goal of the meeting is to improve processes for all team members, not just developers.

The Sprint Retrospective is a common part of Agile teams and offers valuable insights on each sprint. However, it is important to remember that teams are not bound by what they decide in the retrospective. The best Scrum team is one that constantly evolves to become better. Sprint Retrospective meetings serve as a place to share ideas. The team can then try these ideas in the following sprint, or return to previous practices if the ideas don’t work well. Without trying new ideas, the team cannot improve its efficiency. Developers especially stand to benefit from trying new ideas. Every organization is unique, and each Scrum team does things a different way. By sharing honest feedback in the Sprint Retrospective, a team can work more smoothly together, and create more ideal software.

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