Why should you play this game?
The short answer:
Forgetting something can be embarrassing and inconvenient as well as waste resources, so help you team open up the conversation and improve your memory. Includes a memory game and 14 questions related to memory and remembering things.
The longer answer and theory (which you may skip if you are not interested 😉 ):
Memory is an essential part of a retrospective. The purpose is to learn from the past weeks, and all learning is depending on memory. Memory is also an extremely complex and fascinating part of us, that we could discuss for hours. We’ll keep it short, though: In order for a retrospective to be successful it is vital that you remember what to bring to the retrospective and you remember it when you continue your daily work. And is isn’t a question of remembering it or not. What parts of a retrospective do you remember? When do you remember it? When you need it? Who remembers what? How are you different? And how can we improve?
Here’s a way to deal with it in your team:
A memory game on team memory – hopefully memorable.
Materials
https://www.onlineretrospectives.com/memory/memorygame.html
Pros
- Unique retrospective with a focus on the often overlooked focus on what memory means for your team
- Open up a conversation on how to remember things generally in your team
Cons
- This retrospective will not give your team room to openly discuss what has happened since retrospective. Consider starting out with an open discussion of important matters that needs to be adressed.
- All questions are related to memory and remembering things.
Duration
Approximately 1 hour – or you can stop anytime you like.
Preparation
Open up the link below under “materials”.
Step-by-step
Someone shares their screen and control the mouse. The team will take turns instructing the screen-sharer which tiles to turn, e.g. by saying “up, down, left, right”.
When you get a matching pair they question will pop up and the team must discuss it.
You continue until no questions are left. If you want to stop the retrospective earlier, you can stop anytime you want. You do not need to play the game to the end.
Tips:
– Does your team need to get something off their chest before starting the game? Consider starting out with a short round where everybody shares what they’ve encountered since last time.
– If your team tend to answer the questions as fast as possible and get on, consider asking follow-up questions.
– If your team dwells too long at each question, you might want to set a timer at 2 minutes pr question.
Because remember – bad memory can cause your team to get stuck and repeat yourselves. Or even worse.. Repeat yourselves!
Contributors
Game invented and developed by Jakob and Katrine, OnlineRetrospectives.com