Your team will love you with these LEGO retrospective prompts

I recently created a retrospective game ala Lego. Use this post as a guide if you wish to facilitate a retro session using that Lego game. The following prompts and ideas will allow you to ask leading questions that dig deeper into what went well for your team and what you and your team can improve.

How to play the Lego retrospective game

First off, share the link to the retro game with the team and ask them to open the game up in their browser. Quickly explain that every person is about to create a “Lego representation” of how their sprint went: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Then you can explain that they can drag and drop the different coloured blocks onto the canvas to build their image. When they are done, they can take a screenshot of their build and share it with the rest of the team. The team can do this by simply sending their image to the meeting chat, or similar. Note that there is no undo button, but blocks can be deleted by right-clicking on them. Also, point out to your team that there is no save button and that refreshing the browser will reset everything.

Next, advise your team how much time they have to complete their drawings. I found it works well to give everyone 5 minutes to complete them. Thereafter, depending on how much time you have, I would suggest giving each and every person at least 3 minutes to explain their drawing to the team and elaborating on what the drawing means.

Also, since you are the facilitator, ensure that nobody else “takes over the show” at this point – allow the person whose turn it is to have the spotlight for those 3 minutes. Promote an open and respectful environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing. For example, if the person is struggling to fill up their 3 minutes, ask leading questions as per below and respond with follow up questions if the person only gives you back short answers:

Questions you can ask for the Lego retro

Reflecting on the sprint

What do the structures you built represent in terms of your achievements and challenges in the sprint?

How did the pieces you chose reflect the highs and lows of your sprint?

Highlighting positives

Which part of your creation symbolizes what made you happiest this sprint?

Can you share a story or moment from the sprint that your structure represents positively?

Addressing challenges

What part of your creation represents a challenge or something that didn’t go as planned?

What steps could we take as a team to turn these challenges into opportunities for growth?

Team collaboration

How did collaborating with the team influence your creation?

What elements of teamwork are depicted in your creation, and how did they impact the sprint’s outcome?

Looking ahead

Based on your creation, what’s one thing you’d like to continue doing in the next sprint?

What’s one change or improvement your structure suggests for the next sprint?

Prompts for your Lego retro

Now, if you wish to put a little spin on how to start off the retro game, follow these creative prompts. They are especially helpful to mix things up if you wish to play the same game again some time, but want team mates to think more outside the box. The prompts are also helpful if you wish to target a specific problem or idea and immediately want to get to the “nitty gritty” of it:

Build your journey

Build a scene that represents your journey through this sprint. Include at least one element that made you happy and one that was challenging.

Metaphorically speaking

Create a metaphor using Lego blocks that describes how you felt about the sprint. Explain your metaphor to the team.

Celebrate success

Use the building blocks to build a trophy or a symbol of success that represents a key achievement or highlight from the sprint.

Identify roadblocks

Construct a representation of a roadblock or obstacle you faced during this sprint. What does it look like and how can we overcome it?

Future vision

Design a Lego model of what a perfect sprint would look like for you. What elements are present and how do they contribute to success?

Additional tips for an epic Lego retro

Lastly, you can make the activity even more fun by asking the team to guess first what each person has built. This can act as a bit of an ice breaker and you will be surprised by the answers! These in themselves can reveal things about how people interpreted the sprint.

In summary, I am hopeful that these Lego retro questions and prompts will help your team reflect meaningfully on their sprint experiences and foster a productive discussion! I can say from experience that my team thoroughly enjoyed this activity.

All the best,

Martina