Having recently joined a new team, I quickly grasped the team’s affinity for Mario Kart. As such, I decided to propose a dynamic, engaging, and fun Sprint Retrospective, blending the joy of immersing ourselves in the Mario Kart universe that the team thoroughly enjoys!
The concept of a Mario Kart Sprint Retrospective was originally proposed by Adrien Guéret (referenced in his Medium article).
I employed the modified version from Paloo (he provides a ready-to-cut board, which is great, so thanks to him for that!)
In our scenario, we have a team of five individuals, which allows for plenty of interaction and individual contribution. Of course, I encourage you to adapt this retrospective and the necessary timings to your particular situation.
The Mario Kart Retrospective Concept
The concept is to envision the past sprint as a Mario Kart circuit. The kart, representing the team, moves forward or backward on the track depending on the positive or negative events of the sprint. These events are symbolized by items from the game: mushrooms and stars for positive points, bananas and bombs for negative points.
Setting Up
To set up this Mario Kart Retrospective, a few components need to be printed: the track, the kart, and the game symbols. These are available in PDF format for easy printing. This time, I printed them on paper.
If I use this again, I’ll create a laminated version, for better longevity and for the joy of having a “game” with good finishes.
It seems crucial to gather everyone around the same table, creating the same closeness you might expect from a board game.
Procedure
Icebreaker (10 minutes)
Choose an icebreaker of your choice, Mario-themed icebreakers are available if you want to stay on theme.
A custom Mario Cube Story would be a great idea… I’ll get back to you on that soon!
Reflection/Writing Time (~10 minutes)
Don’t reveal the Mario items and their impacts on the Mario race right away (this will avoid the “I want to make Mario advance at all costs” aspect).
During your chosen time (10 minutes in our case), each team member writes down the significant events of the sprint on post-it notes, one post-it = one idea, one feedback.
Sharing (~45 minutes)
Now, everyone gathers around the track.
Each person, in turn, selects one of their post-its and links it to one of the available objects: star (+2), mushroom (+1), banana (-1), or bomb (-2).
A MAXIMUM of THREE objects! This allows the team to focus on the key points.
- A star (+2) very positive effect.
- A mushroom (+1) slightly positive influence.
- A banana (-1) : small negative influence.
- A bomb (-2) : highly negative impact.
The kart moves forward or backward based on the impact of the chosen symbol.
Positive post-its are placed to the left of the board, negatives to the right.
Each participant places their post-its and speaks about the message they want to convey, or the subject they want to discuss, then they will pass the turn to the person of their choice (the person on their right if you want to keep it simple). They will place the items on the board, but leave their post-its where they are.
Examples:
- Mushroom (+1): The implementation of the new kanban board that improved overall efficiency.
- Banana (-1): Constant interruptions are slowing us down.
- Bomb (-2): A major system failure that disrupted work for several days, causing a significant delay in the sprint.
Adrien Guéret suggests “passing the shell” to pass the word, if you have an object to represent that, it would work great!
After this round, the team collectively considers actions to implement based on the identified elements.
Mario’s position on the track should ignite a desire to improve next time!
Feedback
The team highly appreciates the Mario Kart Retrospective for its fun and engaging nature. The principle instills laughter and a good mood, and the familiar universe allows everyone to immerse themselves.
It’s wonderfully simple and fun to imagine the bonuses that allow the kart to speed up or evade obstacles, as well as the penalties slowing down progress, and as a team, we’re all in the same Kart! Besides having a great time, we end up with a solid action plan.