Easy As Pie is a good retrospective activity to look for improvements, to apologize for personal mistakes, to present new ideas and to recognise the good things.
Running the activity
- Draw a large pie on a whiteboard with five slices.
- Label the five pie slices and describe them as follows:
- Humble Pie -Admit a wrong that occurred and apologize for the mistake.
- Shoo Fly Pie -Identify something negative that is hampering the team and you want to remove.
- Cutie Pie -Submit an appreciation for someone or something.
- Pie in the Sky -Present an idea that may be ‘impossible’ – a stretch goal, fanciful idea, or plan.
- Easy As Pie – Recognize something that was simple and pleasurable that you believe the team should continue doing.
- Ask the participants think about each slice of the pie, take notes on sticky notes(one idea or thought per sticky note) and then place on the pie slice accordingly.
- Group conversation about the notes.
I have learned this activity from Myron Shawala. He has a very tasteful tip: bring a nice pie to match the activity theme and share it with your team to start this retrospective activity.
‘As easy as pie’ is an expression used for describing something that’s easy to do. Your work environment should be as easy as pie. Pies and retrospectives are great for helping with that.
Remote-team advice: This activity works well for remote teams. Use a remote board of your choice.