Things in this Newsletter 🗞️

• 🌟 Continuous Improvement ideas

• 🧩 The Zeroeth Step for a Great Retro

  • 🧭 Examples of Designing from the Zeroeth Step

• Quick Facilitator’s Tip

• 🔥 Things you might like

• 🧐 Facilitate or Plan with Jo

🌟 Editor's Note

Welcome to another Retro Newsletter. If this is your first time here, I highly recommend reading this newsletter first. It will give you the basics.

A friend once asked me for help designing a retrospective.
I asked him, “What does the team need?”

He paused.

And that’s when it hit me; that question is the retro’s Zeroeth Step.
Before we plan activities, pick a theme, or grab a new Miro template, we need to stop and ask:

Because not every team needs a Sailboat, not every sprint needs Start / Stop / Continue. And not every moment calls for celebration or problem-solving. Sometimes they need space. Sometimes clarity. Sometimes connection. It’s our job as facilitators to watch, listen, tune in and decide.

🌟  Continuous Improvement ideas

Format Flowchart – Build a simple decision tree (e.g. tired → reflective, energised → creative) to guide format choice.

🧩 The Zeroeth Step for a Great Retro

Retrospectives can easily become mechanical: we follow the structure, move the sticky notes, and check the box.

But truly effective retros start one step before the agenda — with observations.

The Zeroeth Step is about listening, observing and tuning in to what’s happening before designing.

Ask yourself (and your team):

• What are you noticing?

• What are you hearing?

• What is happening in the broader organisational environment?

• How is the team feeling?

• What’s been showing up lately - tension, fatigue, momentum, or confusion?

• What’s the real question beneath the surface?

Then, let that answer guide your design. During the sprint, tune in all your senses and make notes. Sometimes we can’t know for sure, but maybe you have a hypothesis you can test, or maybe all the data adds up to something. So put your detective hat on and lean in to all the small nuances and see what you notice. Perhaps even use the retro format to decide on the retro. Gather data, analyse the data, and generate insights, test one or two theories, or solicit input from the team, and then decide what to do.

See how the format is also an excellent tool for thinking through a problem.

🧭 Examples of Designing from the Zeroeth Step

If the team feels burnt out, → Try a Letting Go Retro to release pressure.

If the team feels disconnected → Start with connection activities or use formats like Proud / Worried to rebuild trust.

If the team is stuck in patterns → Bring in Double-Loop Learning questions to explore the “why” beneath the “what.”

If the team has strong energy and flow, → Use a Design Thinking Retro to channel that energy into creative experiments.

If the team is confused about goals, → Try a Sailboat or Hot-Air Balloon Retro to visualise direction and risks.

What I notice more and more is that teams need time to stop, pause, and think. → Try a silent journaling Retro for 20 minutes to create space and a pause.

And sometimes the team needs a win or to have a little fun. With one of my teams, we would go out for lunch as a team every couple of sprints and just get to know each other. We all came from different cultures, so we would discuss things like cultural norms for weddings, or families and siblings or food that was unique to where we grew up. Sometimes, if my team needed to have fun, we would build some LEGO or do a puzzle, and one team I knew would play 30 seconds.

💡 So What:
Great retros aren’t designed around templates. They’re designed around need.
The Zeroeth Step reminds us that before we facilitate, we must first feel the team, take time to understand what’s beneath the surface and what they really need.

Quick Facilitator’s Tip

Book rooms early: Try to book your rooms 15 or 20 minutes before your retro is going to start, that gives you time to prep any artefacts you want to create or set up anything that you want to have ready for the team. If you encourage the team to arrive a bit early, they can spend a few minutes connecting before you begin, and you can begin on time.

🔥 Things you might like

• 🎮 Game: Looks like the app store has an online version of 30 Seconds

• 📖 Book: The Art of Gathering – is helping me to rethink meetings in general

If you have fun templates or tools you'd like to share, please get in touch, and I will see how to showcase them here.

🧐 Facilitate or Plan with Jo

Did you know I can help plan your next retro or facilitate it for you? I have packages available for facilitation, planning, or being a sounding board. [email protected] is the email address to use for contact.

Did you know? The word “retrospective” comes from Latin roots meaning “to look back.” But the term was first popularised in 🎨 art criticism, describing exhibitions that showcased an artist’s growth over time. A fitting metaphor for teams.

Till next time,

Jo