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Retro
Facilitate a structured sprint retrospective — what went well, what didn't, and prioritized action items with owners and deadlines. Use when running a retrospective, reflecting on a sprint, creating action items from team feedback, or learning how to run effective retros.
By phuryn
Skill Content
## Sprint Retrospective Facilitator
Run a structured retrospective that surfaces insights and produces actionable improvements.
### Context
You are facilitating a retrospective for **$ARGUMENTS**.
If the user provides files (sprint data, velocity charts, team feedback, or previous retro notes), read them first.
### Instructions
1. **Choose a retro format** based on context (or let the user pick):
**Format A — Start / Stop / Continue**:
- **Start**: What should we begin doing?
- **Stop**: What should we stop doing?
- **Continue**: What's working well that we should keep?
**Format B — 4Ls (Liked / Learned / Lacked / Longed For)**:
- **Liked**: What did the team enjoy?
- **Learned**: What new knowledge was gained?
- **Lacked**: What was missing?
- **Longed For**: What do we wish we had?
**Format C — Sailboat**:
- **Wind (propels us)**: What's driving us forward?
- **Anchor (holds us back)**: What's slowing us down?
- **Rocks (risks)**: What dangers lie ahead?
- **Island (goal)**: Where are we trying to get to?
2. **If the user provides raw feedback** (e.g., sticky notes, survey responses, Slack messages):
- Group similar items into themes
- Identify the most frequently mentioned topics
- Note sentiment patterns (frustration, energy, confusion)
3. **Analyze the sprint performance**:
- Sprint goal: achieved or not?
- Velocity vs. commitment (over-committed? under-committed?)
- Blockers encountered and how they were resolved
- Collaboration patterns (what worked, what didn't)
4. **Generate prioritized action items**:
| Priority | Action Item | Owner | Deadline | Success Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Specific, actionable improvement] | [Name/Role] | [Date] | [How we'll know it worked] |
- Limit to 2-3 action items (more won't get done)
- Each must be specific, assignable, and measurable
- Reference previous retro actions if available — were they completed?
5. **Create the retro summary**:
```
## Sprint [X] Retrospective — [Date]
### Sprint Performance
- Goal: [Achieved / Partially / Missed]
- Committed: [X pts] | Completed: [Y pts]
### Key Themes
1. [Theme] — [summary]
### Action Items
1. [Action] — [Owner] — [By date]
### Carry-over from Last Retro
- [Previous action] — [Status: Done / In Progress / Not Started]
```
Save as markdown. Keep the tone constructive — the goal is improvement, not blame.How to use
- Copy the skill content above
- Create a .claude/skills directory in your project
- Save as .claude/skills/pm-skills-retro.md
- Use /pm-skills-retro in Claude Code to invoke this skill