4 Questions for an American Football Retrospective

You’re a sports fanatic and that’s why you searched for the “American Football Retrospective”? Fantastic, sports friend! You’ve come to the right place. Here you get a first overview of the American Football Retrospective.

Good teamwork is just as important in American football as it is in agile work. The right players have to be on the field. And yet sometimes you just have a bad game day. If your team has some football fans, then this agile sprint retrospective provides a perfect template for you:

Example plays (questions) for your American Football Retrospective

• Touchdown: Where did we play particularly well together?
  • Example: We have achieved significantly better communication and coordination between offense and defense in this project. – This is how it should continue.
• Field Goal: What opportunities do we have?
  • Example: You have the feeling that not everyone in your team dares to call audibles, there is a lack of so-called psychological safety. So you could start by carrying out an agile team Health Check in 3 steps in your team (more information on: “ psychological safety %E2%80%9C or “ Team health check in 3 steps %E2%80%9E).
• Penalty: When did we break the rules?
  • Example: It is important to regularly check our key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the conversion rate on third down – - unfortunately, this has been neglected recently! We should get better at keeping an eye on our statistics (More info on: “ agile metrics %E2%80%9E).
• Game-Winning Drive: Where did we hit the bull’s eye?
  • Example: You were very happy with the new playbook software to help with prioritization & transparency of plays. It should definitely continue to be used.

You can also find the American football retrospective in our Echometer tool and conduct it online with your team (no registration required):

American Football Retrospective

Touchdown pass: Where did we play particularly well together?

Field goal: What opportunities do we have?

Penalty: When did we break the rules?

Game-winning drive: where did we hit the bull's eye?

Open this retro now

As you can see, the soccer retrospective includes many important perspectives on teamwork and is therefore also an interesting undertaking for non-football fans from time to time. If you as an Agile Coach or Scrum Master have a team with an affinity for sports or are even a soccer fan, the soccer retrospective will certainly go down even better.

My own sporting past, although not in American football, has shown me how closely the principles of team sports are linked to those of agile working methods. In both worlds, mutual trust is the cornerstone of success. Like a well-coordinated football team that executes complex plays in a matter of seconds, an agile team must also work together in a flexible and coordinated manner to achieve its goals.

The importance of a good balance between concentration and relaxation should not be underestimated, both on the pitch and in the office. A team that doesn’t lose its sense of fun even in stressful situations is often more productive and resilient.

Introducing sporting elements, such as this American football retrospective, into the day-to-day work of agile teams can bring a breath of fresh air and new perspectives. It is a first step towards strengthening team spirit and improving collaboration.

Who knows, maybe you’ll even enjoy starting your meetings with a motivating “Ready, Set, Hut!” - as long as it doesn’t get out of hand! 😄

Conclusion – The American Football Retrospective

If you want to bring a little more sportsmanship to your team or put a smile on the faces of football fans on your team, the American football retro is definitely a recommendation. If you like it, you’ll probably also like these retros:  54 Fresh Retrospective Ideas for Healthy Agile Teams in 2024