Agile is a software or project development methodology that focuses on a creation process divided into incremental time/based & topic-defined “Sprints”. It is a method widely used by software development teams & is usually enhanced by regular team meetings that assist in retrospective assessments of the successes & failures of each section of the project. Teams are usually assigned to specific tasks, & although they are cross-functional, each specialized team can work to build a section of the software on their own.
Although many frameworks exist to assist teams wanting to develop in this manner, many are pricey & complicated to use. “GoRetro”, a team of developers who used Agile as their development method, decided to offer the framework it used internally to the development community at large, in an effort to provide free, Online software to teams to help organize their retrospective Sprints, motivate their teams & focus on working sections of their projects.
GoRetro provides a set of templates for development teams to use, which are highly customizable & allow teams to add cards & boards in an unlined fashion to any development project. Each template allows for a different set of goals, which are then easily tracked via the tools provided.
Right now GoRetro offers 10 templates, some of which are described below:
- Start-Stop-Continue:- focused on what to go on with & what to halt.
- Mad-Sad-Glad:- how the team felt through the previous sprint–techniques that assisted & should be continued. Assists in developing concrete directions for optimized progress.
- Lean Coffee: open-ended questions & discussion–topics of interest to the team are given time & attention.
- Sailboat:-focuses on the “big picture”– discerns what helped the project along & what slowed it down.
- 4Ls: focuses on previous projects & sprints to assess what they lacked, what was learned & what the team would like to see in the future.
- Oscar Academy Awards:- team members are rewarded based on the best contribution from members.
- Iteration:- the team focuses on qualitative & quantitative reviews to help paint a bigger picture & assess goals & techniques.
- Remote:-aimed at teams working at differing remote locations.
GoRetro’s Online system is easily accessible from any browser, & is completely free to use. Features include Board personalization, ability to make Boards public or private, easy sorting & search filtering, the ability to add comments & feedback, unlimited team members & boards can be added. To see more, check out the offerings on the GoRetro Website.
Image credit: GoRetro
