Podcast Summary
Episode Overview
Podcast: Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Host: Vasco Duarte
Guest: Scott Smith
Episode Title: Using MIRO to Build a Living Archive of Learning
Date: December 4, 2025
In this episode, Vasco Duarte and guest Scott Smith, an experienced Scrum Master, discuss innovative uses of Miro for retrospectives, methods for creating a ‘living archive’ of team learning, and techniques for measuring and nurturing team success. The conversation explores practical tips for Scrum Masters, celebrates the importance of team history, and highlights actionable ways to gauge and support thriving Agile teams.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Favorite Retrospective Format: Using Miro as a Team Archive
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Scott's Approach ([01:34] - [02:37]):
- Prefers using a single, evolving Miro board for all team retrospectives.
- Draws from the "Miroverse" to incorporate various themed templates (e.g., Christmas, Halloween, Easter).
- Keeps retrospectives fun, varied, and engaging for the team.
- Maintains a shared space for teams to revisit actions from past retrospectives and easily follow up on improvements.
"It keeps everything on the one board as well. So you can easily see your last retrospective's actions, follow up on those prior to starting your next retrospective."
— Scott Smith [02:37] -
Team History & Identity Building ([03:02] - [04:52]):
- Vasco underscores the value of accumulating retrospectives in a single place for building team history and identity.
- Reflects on earlier days where flip charts lined the team room, preserving key team moments and stories.
- Highlights how such archives help introduce new team members and foster a sense of belonging.
"It creates this concept of having a history as a team... The flip charts kind of told the story of some of the key moments of the team over time."
— Vasco Duarte [03:30] -
Celebration & Onboarding ([04:52] - [06:43]):
- Scott describes creating end-of-year videos from Miro board snapshots as a tool for reflection and team celebration.
- Archives like these help onboard new team members and communicate progress to stakeholders.
"A previous Scrum Master... had taken all of the boards and created a little end of year video... providing little celebratory moments... And watch this video and see what we had done."
— Scott Smith [05:40]
2. Defining Success as a Scrum Master
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Human-Centered Success ([07:09] - [08:19]):
- Emphasizes serving as a servant leader, with success defined not just by team growth but by whether the team is truly thriving—including the Product Owner.
- Success means high engagement, satisfaction, and functionality across all roles.
"If the team is thriving, so not just growing, but if the team is really thriving, then I feel that is a huge indication of success."
— Scott Smith [07:09] -
Measuring Thriving Teams ([08:19] - [10:19]):
- Utilizes a mix of lightweight, continuous feedback mechanisms and formal checkpoints:
- Daily “Vibe Checks”: Informal, in-scrum discussions about the current sprint’s progress.
- Quarterly Planning & Retrospectives: Reflection and celebration at longer intervals.
- Mid-Quarter Anonymous Surveys: Pulse-checks with 6-7 targeted questions for more honest feedback.
- Monthly Showcases: Provide indirect signals on team morale and excitement for the work.
"On a sprint by sprint basis we will do things like mid sprint vibe checks... for the sprint vibe check we really take action there and then if someone raises an issue."
— Scott Smith [08:19], [11:04] - Utilizes a mix of lightweight, continuous feedback mechanisms and formal checkpoints:
3. Action Tracking, Continuous Improvement, and Team Evolution
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Action-Oriented, Transparent Facilitation ([11:04] - [12:37]):
- Sprint vibe checks spur immediate actions during daily scrums.
- Survey feedback is anonymized, themed, and shared back to the team to co-create improvement plans.
- Patterns and recurring issues are tracked for insight and long-term team growth.
"I'll collect the feedback... remove any duplicates, create any themes... I'll share that back to the department... and then co-create... the actions."
— Scott Smith [11:51] -
The Value of Tracking Actions Over Time ([12:37] - [13:24]):
- Retaining a record of actions and discussions allows teams to identify their evolving needs—reflecting growth or recurring challenges.
- Teams with stronger foundations move on from “basic” issues to focus on innovation and continuous improvement.
"If you keep that over time, you can see what kind of actions are relevant over time and you can observe the development of the team."
— Vasco Duarte [12:37]
4. Leveraging AI for Team Insights
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Future Potential with LLMs ([13:24] - [14:12]):
- Suggests leveraging large language models (LLMs) to automate tracking and scoring of team health based on retrospective actions.
- Can help identify trends and support data-driven facilitation.
"With today's LLMs, I guess we could even probably create a score based on the actions tracked over time and kind of track that score over time."
— Vasco Duarte [13:53]"LLMs is a big piece of what we in our department being AI, an AI domain do a lot of work with. So creating LLMs for various use cases..."
— Scott Smith [13:53]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On Using Miro for Team Identity:
"It creates this concept of having a history as a team." — Vasco Duarte [03:02] -
On Celebrating with Archives:
"Creating a little end of year video... providing little celebratory moments where we could come together and... see what we had done." — Scott Smith [05:40] -
On Team Thriving as the Ultimate Measure:
"If the team is thriving... then I feel that is a huge indication of success." — Scott Smith [07:09] -
On Tracking Team Health with LLMs:
"With today's LLMs, I guess we could even probably create a score based on the actions tracked over time..." — Vasco Duarte [13:53]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 01:11 - Vasco introduces Scott and the theme of the episode
- 01:34 - Scott describes his favorite retrospective format using Miro
- 03:02 - Discussion on team history, identity, and benefits of an evolving retrospective archive
- 04:52 - Using archives/videos to celebrate and onboard new members
- 06:43 - Transition to defining success as a Scrum Master
- 07:09 - Scott shares his definition of success (team thriving)
- 08:19 - Measuring team health with "vibe checks," surveys, and showcases
- 11:04 - Action-taking and feedback mechanisms in practice
- 12:37 - Importance of tracking actions and team evolution
- 13:53 - Potential of LLMs to automate team health tracking
- 14:17 - Episode wrap-up
Conclusion
This episode delivers practical advice for Scrum Masters looking to deepen team learning and engagement through digital retrospectives. Scott and Vasco showcase how tools like Miro can serve as evolving team museums, boosting reflection, celebration, and onboarding. Their focus on regular, human-centered feedback and action tracking—supported by emerging AI—provides listeners with fresh ideas to nurture and measure team thriving in the Agile space.