Overview

Post-project retrospectives help teams summarize lessons learned. Claude can integrate project data, team feedback, and event records to generate structured retrospective reports that identify highlights and areas for improvement.

Use Cases

Project completion retrospectives
Sprint review meetings
Post-incident analysis
Quarterly team summaries

Steps

Step 1: Gather Project Data

Compile various project information.

Please analyze the following project materials:
- ~/project/timeline.md - Project timeline
- ~/project/metrics.csv - Key metrics data
- ~/project/issues_log.txt - Issues log
- ~/project/team_feedback.md - Team feedback

Extract:
- Basic project information (timeline, team, goals)
- Milestone achievement status
- Major issues encountered and how they were resolved
- Key themes from team feedback

Step 2: What Went Well Analysis

Identify what worked well in the project.

Please list project highlights and successful practices:
Analyze from these perspectives:
- Results that exceeded expectations
- Effective processes and practices
- Team collaboration highlights
- Innovative solutions
- Practices worth promoting
For each highlight explain: What it is, why it succeeded, how to replicate it

Step 3: What Went Wrong Analysis

Honestly face problems and mistakes.

Please identify project problems and challenges:
- Goals not achieved and reasons why
- Recurring problem patterns
- Process bottlenecks
- Communication and collaboration difficulties
- Resource or skill gaps
Stay objective, focus on systems not individuals
Analyze root causes, not just surface symptoms

Step 4: Generate Retrospective Report

Create a complete retrospective document.

Please generate a retrospective report: ~/project/retrospective_report.md

# Project Retrospective Report - Project X

## Project Overview
- Project goals and background
- Team composition
- Timeline

## Goal Achievement Status
- Original goals vs actual achievement
- Key metrics comparison table

## What Went Well
- 3-5 specific highlights with data support

## What Went Wrong
- 3-5 main issues with root cause analysis

## Team Feedback Summary
- Most frequently mentioned suggestions
- Morale and sentiment analysis

## Lessons Learned
- Key learning points
- Recommendations for future projects

## Action Plan
- Specific improvement measures
- Owners and timelines

## Appendix
- Detailed data and charts
- Complete team feedback

Step 5: Prepare Retrospective Meeting

Generate agenda and facilitation questions for the retrospective meeting.

Please prepare retrospective meeting materials:
Duration: 90 minutes
Attendees: Full project team

Generate:
1. Meeting agenda (time allocation)
2. Facilitation questions list:
   - Opening icebreaker questions
   - Deep discussion questions
   - Summary and convergence questions
3. Whiteboard/sticky note activity design
4. Meeting facilitator script
5. Post-meeting follow-up plan

Save as ~/project/retro_meeting_guide.md

Warning: Focus retrospectives on systems and processes, avoid blaming individuals. Create a psychologically safe environment that encourages honest expression. Don't go through the motions - drive real improvement.

Tip: Using anonymous feedback collection tools (like surveys) can help team members be more candid. Retrospective reports should be action-oriented, with improvement measures for every issue identified.

Common Questions

Q: How to encourage active team participation in retrospectives? A: Emphasize that retrospectives are about learning, not blame. Use gamified activity formats. Ensure everyone has a chance to speak. Recognize team members who offer constructive feedback.

Q: Who should retrospective reports be shared with? A: Project team, relevant stakeholders, other project teams (as reference). Sensitive content can be tiered: internal version (complete) and external version (summarized).

Q: How often should retrospectives be done? A: Agile teams do one after each Sprint. Project-based teams do them after project completion or important milestones. Major incidents (like production outages) should be retrospected promptly.