“Remote First Retrospectives”: Retrospectives for Distributed Teams

Retrospectives for remote employees can feel isolating.

Meetings for remote employees can be a struggle. I worked remote for just over a year. My colleagues would talk over me, the technology failed us, and company activities seemed to be only for the in-office employees. One of the most difficult meetings to contribute to were retrospectives. So much of the action was happening in the office, and I craved to be part of it.

The concept of ‘Remote First’ simply considers the location of each employee as secondary, and participation (regardless of location) first.

Here are my tricks to a stellar remote first retrospective:

1. Video. Everyone wants to see your charming mug on the screen when you’re participating in a meeting. Find video conferencing software that works for your organization and turn on your camera.
2. Create a virtual space. Retrospectives involve collaboration, and often not just through voice. Many retrospective activities include writing down thoughts, which can be hard to unless you use online tools. We’ve tried using shared google docs, online bulletin boards. I’ve listed some of my favourite tools below.
3. Speak when you have the conch. Take turns speaking. When you ask a question, give time for every person to add their opinion. Don’t cut each other off.
4. Ask for input. Some employees don’t feel comfortable speaking up, whether they are remote or in office. Ask open ended questions to encourage conversation.
5. Hold each other accountable. Having a healthy retrospective means having a safe space for team members to share their insights and views. If you catch someone on your team cutting off speakers, or rushing through without giving time for everyone to contribute, call them out on it. Politely, of course.

Here are a few of my favourite online resources for productive retrospectives:

IdeaBoardz is an online bulletin board where you can post virtual stickies. It has web and mobile versions, for easy collaboration, and can be set up to support the majority of retro activities.

Slack is a given. I mean, you’re probably already using it. Their video conferencing feature is probably the easiest and the most reliable I’ve worked with. I’m also a fan of Sococo because it creates virtual ‘spaces’ for teams, has audio/video and screen sharing capabilities.

Fun Retrospectives is a great place to find new retrospective-focused activities.

Retrospectives can be insightful and productive opportunities, whether you are all in the same room, or split across the globe. The more you hone your Remote-First practices, the more time you can spend working on fun retrospective activities like “Start/Stop/Continue”.