Common ailments & cures

A collection of common problems which occur with retrospectives and suggestions how to resolve them. Generated by running a Retrospective Surgery.

If you have an ailment that is not covered please add it at the bottom and hopefully someone will have an answer for you.

Ailment: Actions not captured / No obvious record or review of previous retrospective findings

Cures:


 * Review the actions from the previous retrospectives at the beginning of each retrospective.
 * Capture/Document actions & follow up by Scrum Master
 * Maintain backlog and have it visible for everybody in the team (e.g. on the Task Board)
 * Focus on last sprint only
 * Make someone responsible and accountable for each action.
 * Put the actions somewhere visible in the team space for example to create team building spirit
 * Reduce actions to a manageable number
 * More suggestions in Having Actions Done from Retrospectives

Ailment: Too many actions

Cures:
 * Apply velocity to actions, track progress and only take on what velocity dictates
 * Try Plan of Action Retrospective Plan
 * Focus on the vital few actions, only choose one action

Ailment: Unjustified actions

Cures:
 * Use root cause analysis
 * Ensure actions are suggestions from the team and prioritised by them.
 * Suggests Biased chair - see cures for that symptom

Ailment: Not having the right people in the retrospective

Cures:
 * Invite people early
 * Pick a time that suits everyone
 * Have separate retrospectives for tech team & wider team

Ailment: Biased chair / Agenda hijacking

Cures:
 * Feedback to chair and escalate if necessary
 * Rotate chair
 * Coach chair on “Agile” principles
 * Let team choose an un-biased chair

Ailment: Lack of preparation / Forgetting what’s happened

Cures:
 * Compensate in the meeting by having a good time line (Ed. help everyone remember what happened?)
 * Prepare - personal/team log
 * Remind participants to think of good and bad points
 * Reminder before the meeting
 * Use Retrospective Exercises from Retrospective Exercises Toolbox or Retr-O-Mat

Ailment: People not speaking up/shy

Cures:
 * Chair/facilitator needs to create the right environment
 * Suggest box/amnesty
 * Try different games which are more suited to retiring types

Ailment: Retrospective actions and tips not shared with other teams

Cures:
 * Rotating facilitators
 * Shared retrospective blog
 * Retrospective “lurking”
 * Cross team collaboration needed
 * Do a Retrospective of Retrospectives

Ailment: People taking things personally

Cures:
 * Refer to The Prime Directive

Ailment: Voting system may result in valid issues not being addressed

Cures:
 * Non-addressed issues get rolled over (& keep votes?)
 * Themed retrospectives
 * Encourage team to get on well so they empathise more with issues affecting minority
 * Vary the retro format (e.g. no voting)

Ailment: Suffering from 'Group Think'

Cures:
 * Have a Devil's Advocate or Angel's Advocate
 * Try De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats Retrospective

Ailment: Lack of engagement

Cures:
 * Try new plans or tips such as the ones on this wiki!

Ailment: Too much focus on negatives

Cures:
 * Try the Appreciative Retrospective Plan or a Strenghts based Retrospective