The 3 Best Retro Check-in Formats for Every Situation

There are many good check-in methods for starting a retrospective. In this article I would like to present three different retro check-in formats with examples of check-in questions. Each check-in format serves a special purpose and can be easily adapted to the needs of your team and varied.

One thing in advance: we have another article with on this subject: 21 clever retrospective check-ins that will break any ice - feel free to take a look at it 🙂

Now let’s begin:

Retro Check-In Type 1: Create excitement with check-in games

Retro check-in game on the online whiteboard

Duration: 10-20 minutes | Goal: Encourage fun, creativity

The basic idea: The purpose of this type of check-in is to create engagement and interaction between team members. There are a wide variety of games to choose from. One game format that we particularly like and doesn't require much preparation is the "Guessing Game" quiz. 

1. Detailed facilitation instructions (Retrospective Games for new Teams)

Here are the instructions for the "guessing game" as a check-in. The best way to share the steps with your team is on your (online) whiteboard:

1. Each team member chooses an animal and keeps it to themselves. (1 minute)
2. Then each team member has 2-3 minutes to write 3 facts about their animal.
   These can be obvious characteristics such as "has wings", or "facts, figures, data" that can be found with a quick web search, such as "exists about 100,000 times in Germany".
3. Now each team member presents their facts. After each fact, all other team members can each make a guess as to which animal it is.
4. If the animal has not been guessed after all three facts, the person has won and receives a point. Otherwise, the person who guesses the animal first gets the point.

If you like this retro method or these questions, you can open them directly in our team development tool Echometer - see above.

Start game

You can also play the check-in game across retrospectives and add up the points over several rounds to determine a “winner” on a regular basis - it’s really fun!

Note: You can adapt this check-in format as you wish and have the team guess car brands, countries, cities, fruits, etc. instead - there are no limits to your creativity. Or even better: actively involve the team and have someone else choose the topic of the check-in guessing game in each retrospective in turn.

Check-in type 2: Getting to know each other better

Retro check-in game on the online whiteboard

Duration: 10-20 minutes | Goal: Getting to know each other, fun

The basic idea: Has your team recently come together and the team members don't know each other well yet? Use a "getting-to-know-you check-in" to give team members the opportunity to get to know each other better on a personal level and to "break the ice". The "Either-Or Check-In" is a great check-in question format for this.

1. Detailed facilitation instructions (Retrospective Games for new Teams)

Write a list of alternative positions to categories such as "Food", "Music", "Sport", "Drinks". Avoid political and religious topics.

1. Pasta or pizza? (Food)
2. Chocolate or gummy bears? (Sweets)
3. Football or basketball? (Sport)
4. "Game of Thrones" or "Scrubs"? (Series)
5. Tea or coffee (drinks)
6. Sweatpants or jeans (clothing)
7. K-Pop or Schlager (music genre)

For the best getting-to-know-you effect, design the format so that each team member not only takes a position via a sticky note, but also has the chance to speak. Just sharing stickies with your own name without explaining your own positioning is not very effective. 

Depending on the team size and time slot for the check-in, you should keep the list of word pairs short. Plan about half a minute per check-in question and participant. With 4 check-in questions and 6 participants, this would be 12 minutes accordingly. 

In general, we would recommend not including more than 6 "either-or questions" in order not to wear out the game too quickly.

Start game

Again, adapt this check-in format freely to the interests of your team and vary it each time for the necessary variety. It is also a great idea to have this format prepared by team members in turn - who knows what creative ideas will emerge from the team. 

If you have trouble coming up with ideas for either/or questions, there’s more on the Internet: Inspiration for more either/or questions.

Check-in type 3: Stimulate self-reflection with metaphors

Retro check-in game on the online whiteboard

Duration: 10-20 minutes | Goal: Fun, reflection of the last Scrum Sprint

The basic idea: Would you like to stimulate self-reflection as early as the check-in of the retrospective? Then this third type of check-in is very suitable! Metaphors are particularly suitable for stimulating self-reflection, as they help the team to look at the cooperation or the results from a new perspective.

1. Detailed facilitation instructions (Retrospective Games for new Teams)

For the image above, ask the question:

• Of the following cars - which one best reflects the last sprint and why? 

Here are a few more examples of metaphors:

• Imagine you're writing a newspaper article about the last sprint: What would the headline of the article be?
• Which picture best reflects your role in the last sprint?

 

Start game

If you like this retro method or these check-in methods, you can open them directly in our team development tool Echometer - see above.

Here, too, there are many possibilities to vary the check-in formats - both the selection of the pictures and the categories themselves.

Bonus: Health Check Retros

Quick health check’s can also be a fun check-in for retrospective. In health checks, different statements are presented to the team and each team member expresses agreement on a scale. 

It must be added that one has then often already drifted into the data-gathering phase and discussions - but that is not so bad. 

You can open a Health Check Retrospective Check-In directly with our Health Check & Retro tool and run it online with your team (Echometer without registration). Here, for example, is our template on the subject of team spirit - feel free to take a look:

Note: This retrospective format asks for agreement with the given Health Check items on a scale.

• Appreciation: My colleagues appreciate my contribution to the team.
• Team Spirit: There is a trusting working atmosphere in our team.
• Transparency: Everyone in my team knows who is currently working on what.
• Recovery & Breaks: I have enough room for breaks in which I can draw new energy.
• Meeting culture: Our meetings are well structured, yet leave room for creativity and new ideas.
• Support: In my team, each team member passes on their individual knowledge and experience.

Recommended: Customizable check-in templates in Echometer

If you’d like some more varied questions for your retrospectives, check out our post on that: 54 fresh retrospective methods for beginners and professionals (including the Mario Kart Retro & the Team Morale Health Check).

Do you regularly prepare retrospectives and would like an overview of different check-in formats from which you can easily choose?

In Echometer we have collected all of these check-ins as whiteboard templates. You can also freely adapt the templates so that you have a large number of variants up your sleeve.

If you don’t know Echometer yet: Echometer is a software tool that is aimed particularly at less experienced Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters & Servant Leaders. It helps to gain self-confidence through predefined templates and to quickly take the team to a new level. In our overview “ 7 free Retro Boards to open a retro now ” you will find more in-depth information.

At last, one of the most effective ways to sustainably develop the agile mindset of teams is, by the way, the implementation of an agile health check. Our free team health check kit can help you ask the right questions - just click through: Agile Team Health Check kit.

If you’re also interested in the best questions to ask in agile retrospectives, check out this article: The best agile retrospective questions . One thing in advance: Do the following two belong to it: 4L Retrospective and Keep stop start retro Maybe. If you work with Kanban, check this out: Kanban Team Health Check Retro .

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