How to make retrospectives better

Many times teams struggle with retrospectives, which is a shame. The goal of such ceremonies is for the teams to continuously improve. But for some reason, it's not working...

Does this sound familiar?
If so, keep reading, and I will try to describe how to overcome some common problems.

My team doesn't see much value in retrospectives

The first thing to do is to understand what is the reason behind that. Don't try to treat the symptoms without first clarifying what the real cause is.

As an option, you can use one of the ceremonies just for a discussion of what retrospective means to the team and what benefits they see out of it. Remember, each team is different. What works or seems beneficial for some people is not the case for others. Find out what they think, like or dislike. That should help to clarify and explain what exactly has to change.


Most of the team is very quiet

If you see that the same people are talking all the time, often ask those who don't speak for their opinion. Some people don't feel comfortable to speak up because they don't feel that what they think matters.

Look for dominating team members on your team. Ask them not to express their opinion until others say something. Usually, the first person speaking sets the tone for the whole conversation.

Accept the fact that some people who are new or less experienced compared to others will always be quiet. They don't express their opinion because they believe others know better. So don't conclude that the team doesn't care right away.

There are none or only a few items to discuss

For some teams, it's difficult to come up with retrospective items, both good and bad. It can be due to a lack of teamwork, which results in individuals focusing on their own things - they just don't see a bigger picture.  Another cause could be that the sprint went smoothly, so there is nothing to discuss. Or it went bad, and people don't want to do finger pointing. Also, a simple reason could be that people don't really feel safe to give any kind of feedback.

In any case, if you ever find yourself in such a situation, calmly say "Okay. It seems we don't need a retro so let's end it". Or you can simply remain silent (as long as it takes...). Either way, I assure you that someone will say something. And when they do, you will hear what's really going on.


Retro is over, and there are ZERO actions to take

If this happens, it's not always a bad thing; especially if your team is mature enough and successful in the way they work. People are not robots who are programmed to come up with new ideas every 2 weeks. If all worked fine during the iteration, then there may be nothing to change at the moment. But of course, it should be obvious to the team that it's rather an exception, not a rule.


Retro feels fake, and we don't seem to discuss the real issue

To identify the real cause, the team should be comfortable with each other enough to admit when exactly they failed, or give constructive feedback to others.

To achieve this, start with yourself and always admit when you did something wrong. That way, you will show that the issue is not in failing, but rather avoiding to talk about it and pretending that everything is fine.

When giving someone constructive feedback, avoid any kind of blaming or judgment. You can say something such as "I could see why that could happen. And we see that it doesn't work well for our team. So let's decide what we can do to avoid it in the future".

I assure your team will follow your lead. Scrum Master's behavior has a tremendous impact on the team.


We talk about the same things all over again

It can happen due to several reasons.

1. Action items are too general. As a result, it's not clear what exactly has to be done.
Too general: Improve communication on slack
Specific enough: Use only one channel for communication; follow up if no response within 24 hrs.

2. There is no owner or due date defined:
Owner and date unclear: To create a spike on how to deploy to production.
Specific enough: Joe to create a spike on how to deploy to production by June 12.

3. No one follows up on action items.
It’s a good practice to start a retrospective with the review of the last agreed action items. It shows to the team whether any action happened and what the next step is. Otherwise, the team may feel that retrospective is just a discussion with no real outcome.


Retrospectives get boring

Try different formats. It may trigger a different conversation. After all, you can just talk about what makes you a good team.

Also, rotate the facilitator within the team and see if you can learn some tricks from others. The extra benefit is that the facilitator will be in your shoes and may appreciate what a Scrum Master does more.

A guest facilitator is also an option, but have in mind that the team may not open up or behave differently in such a case. So do some homework first. Define specifically what you’d like to achieve when inviting a complete stranger to the team. Also, talk to the facilitator as well so she knows what that goal is.


It's just tough...

Yes, it's not easy. First of all, have in mind that improvement means CHANGE, and people don't like changes. Also, the team needs to admit their own mistakes, give constructive feedback to others, and be open minded. This all doesn't come just so. On top of that, they are tired after the long sprint and want to go HOME. So it's entirely OK to face some challenges. However, if you consider the tips above, it should get better with time.

To conclude, YES, a retrospective can be a challenging ceremony. There will be ups and downs. Be patient and good luck!