Conducting a Liftoff Retrospective
Within a couple of weeks after the project liftoff—the sooner the better—invite the planning group to a liftoff retrospective meeting. It’s at this meeting that your planning group reflects on the liftoff and gains insight into how to improve the next one. Following is a sample agenda for the retrospective meeting along with suggested activities.
Sample Agenda (Retrospective)
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Welcome and introductions
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Review the agenda and set the stage
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Gather data
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Generate insights
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Decide what to do
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Thank participants and wrap up
Activity 1: Set the Stage
At the start of the meeting, review the agenda. Answer any questions participants might have about it. Explain that the focus of the retrospective is on improving future liftoffs. Ask everyone present to say one word that captures their liftoff experience. Write the words on a flip chart to come back to at the end of the meeting. One-word check-ins give everyone practice with speaking up in the session; once you’ve said one thing, it’s easier to keep participating. This activity establishes the tone you want for the rest of the meeting. Starting with open sharing and clarity of purpose makes it easier to continue.
Activity 2: Gather Data
Next, post a time line that displays the dates when the group was involved in the planning, design, and execution of the liftoff. Add a vertical dimension to the time line to indicate positive (+), neutral (0), and negative (-) responses. Post the five rules of learning discussed in The Five Rules of Learning, and the five design principles discussed in Chapter 3, Design a Great Liftoff for Your Team as reminders for time-line events.
Ask the planning group members to write down all the liftoff-related events, activities, and other things they observed during the liftoff planning, during the liftoff, and afterward, up until the time of the retrospective (similar to when participants provide feedback on the ROTI chart in the wrap-up event). Write each item one per sticky note. Place each note on the time line horizontally to according when each event happened. Place it vertically according to its impact on liftoff execution and planning and on the individual group members.
After you complete the time line, bring in any photos or physical ROTI charts you collected during the liftoff wrap-up session. Display them for the group. Discuss the similarities, differences, and patterns you see among the time line and the ROTI charts. Write the patterns on sticky notes. Group similar items and name the groupings.
Activity 3: Generate Insights
The next step is to build on the Drop, Add, and Keep ideas from the ROTI chart. Ask planning-group members to add their own observations based on the previous discussions.
Form pairs to consider the effects of patterns, actions, or events. Ask each pair to include its insights about beneficial and detrimental decisions, implications about alternatives and options, factors that influenced planning, and new questions that arise. Ask pairs to write all their comments, observations, and insights on sticky notes—one comment per sticky note. Next, tell the pairs to report their three most significant findings. To reduce redundancies, report in three rounds. Ask pairs to report one finding each round.
Activity 4: Decide What to Do
Next, form triads and have each group generate three to five ideas for improving future liftoffs based on the insights generated from the previous session. Post all of the improvement ideas on a flip chart, putting similar ideas together. Clarify questions about any of the groupings. Use dot voting to determine which ideas you want to carry forward into planning your next liftoff. Write up the idea groups to carry forward, along with the names of the contributors. This way, future planning groups will know whom to contact for questions. Liftoff facilitators will use the ideas when planning the next liftoff. Add the ideas and names to your liftoff history file.
Activity 5: Close the Retrospective
Review the actions you’ve taken and plan to take, and take photos of the relevant flip charts. Ask for feedback on the retrospective so you can keep making them better, too!