When a Retrospective Doesn’t Work

Retrospective is a technique used in a communication context with an internal team. It helps cherish things that went well, focus on things that went wrong and take actions that help improve the team’s performance. It is an opportunity for the team to reflect on issues during the last iteration. It is split into two parts: the first reflects on the past iteration, and the other identifies ways to adapt. A retrospective is usually conducted when the last iteration has just finished, but the next iteration has yet to be planned. Or at the end of the initiative when the next iteration isn’t planned. It’s sometimes organised on the spot when it’s required by the current situation.

Retrospective Elements

Going through the previous action items

Action items defined at the previous retrospective need to be reviewed to assess whether progress has occurred and what value it brings. Assessing whether the actions taken brought value to the team in the delivery process is essential.

Gathering current issues

Team members have a space to specify what went well and what went wrong recently. Every opinion is valuable and welcome because team members play different roles in providing a solution or a service—the more different points of view, the more profound knowledge about the previous iteration.

Identifying issues to discuss

Team members choose issues to discuss. Discussing matters that could go well gives the team members a chance to detect the reasons why they went wrong and what they may do to improve. It’s essential to consider different perspectives, their strengths, and limitations.

Determining future actions

Team members agree on which actions they want to take to improve their performance and process. Future actions should correspond with all issues admitted by the team as needing improvement. 

Common retrospective gaps

Below are the common retrospective gaps. The team may not take advantage of retrospectives’ power if they occur.

Gap: Team members don’t understand the meaning of a retrospective meeting
Impact: Bored and annoyed team members with a feeling of wasting time. 

Gap: Not all team members participate actively in the retrospective meeting
Impact: Some crucial issues may be missed. 

Gap: The retrospective meeting is conducted by a biassed person involved in a delivery process.
Impact: Team members don’t feel safe to speak freely and constructively.

Gap: Future actions do not have an assigned person.
Impact: The team won’t improve their performance.