Retrospectives are certainly one of the most important techniques used in Scrum as they form the foundation of the continuous improvement and adjustment to the context for the Scrum team. It is however not always easy to facilitate this activity with a bunch of software developers that are often mostly introverted.
“Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives” is a free e-book written by Luis Gonçalves and Ben Linders that should help you introduce and facilitate retrospectives meeting in your organization and Scrum teams. The book starts by defining what retrospectives are and why we use them. It then explains what is needed to structure a retrospective.
The final part of the book contains exercises, like the “Star Fish” or the “Car Brand”, that can be used to facilitate retrospectives. Each exercise is supported with the “what” and “why” of retrospectives, the business value and benefits that they can bring you and advice for introducing and improving retrospectives. Even if it targets mainly ScrumMasters and Agile coaches, this book is highly recommended for all Agile people.
Reference: Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives – A Toolbox of Retrospective Exercises, Luis Gonçalves and Ben Linders
You can download this book from https://leanpub.com/gettingvalueoutofagileretrospectives