Most of the teams that I have been on have a retrospective for the end of a sprint. A sprint is an agile term for a set period that X amount of work needs to be completed by. The retrospective is run by a someone who takes a neutral role. I have been doing these retros for a year now for my team. We cover 4 items in 30 minutes meeting: doing good, do better, action items, and thanks.
We use a virtual white board since we're all remote but some post it notes and board to stick them on works too.
It's all no judgement and it took time to build trust, I'm leadership but I make the promise that all feedback is anonymous and will only relay issues that the C levels or people who can solve what we need will know. I only relay names when a team member should get recognition for a great idea.
The thanks - we call out the people who helped us or the whole team.
Action items - I use this corner for updates, information, and follow ups that my team has requested (lots of training is wanted).
Doing good - similar to the thanks but people call out areas that need improvement that are getting better and such.
Do Better - this is what is all bad really. Not enough X getting produced, dysfunctional communication issues, lack of training for target areas, and such.
I use the do better section to get input on all the things that my team wants. We also discuss that sometimes we need to pick up the slack for our side of the issue.
I love these because I believe that a leader is a coach. A coach on a sports team isn't the person on field but the person who steps up to take the blame when the team fails and the one who praises those who shine. A coach wins because his team wins.
I wonder ... if something like this can't be used about now. You can't carry the load yourself. You need the team to buy in and buying in means being invested and seeing that the team's voice is heard and is being acted upon.
Nobody on my team has ever thrown out an idea that was ridiculous like 3 day work weeks and such. We are all professionals, get paid as a professional, and we know that we should be giving our 40 hours fully to our jobs (actually 70% is realistic).
I hope this gives you some ideas!
