Best practices for retrospective learning! ⬇ ⬇
Last week, our Engineering, IT, Data, PMO, and Product teams gathered in Milwaukee for our Summer QBR and Popup Office—a perfect setting for deep #collaboration and reflection. Among the highlights of the sessions was a comprehensive learning review, which helps drive continuous improvement. What we love about these retrospective sessions is the opportunity to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. The goal is to identify actionable improvements in processes, systems, and team communication that will help our organization grow. Here are 5 best practices we find valuable for retrospective learning: 1️⃣ Be reflective and collaborative: a learning review should be more than just a post-mortem. It’s an opportunity for collective reflection where teams can draw on diverse perspectives across the organization. 2️⃣ Honesty and transparency are key: embrace a blameless culture that encourages honesty and openness. It’s not about who messed up; it’s about how we, as a collective, can get better. The moment blame enters the equation, learning shuts down. 3️⃣ Focus on improvement: we don’t just ask what went wrong—we ask how we can evolve. The review focuses on improving our understanding, practices, team dynamics, and tools. It's about equipping our teams with the insights they need to be better prepared for the future challenges. 4️⃣ Take a data-driven approach: leverage both quantitative and qualitative data during learning reviews. Quantitative data provides objective metrics and trends while qualitative data, such as team feedback and customer insights, adds context and depth to these metrics. By integrating both types of #data, we ensure that discussions are grounded in evidence, enabling us to identify #patterns, validate assumptions, and make more effective, well-rounded decisions for future growth. 5️⃣ Find actionable insights: the outcome from the learning review should be an action plan that can be implemented to improve the overall effectiveness of the teams. Don’t just fix problems—learn from them, grow from them, and watch your organization become stronger because of it. #Learningreview #SaaS #Leadership #DevOps #Technology #Innovation #teamculture
