Retrospectives are a cornerstone of Agile, enabling teams to reflect, learn, and improve continuously. But even with the best intentions, retrospectives can fall victim to anti-patterns—subtle, recurring practices that reduce their value. It can leave the team with a bitter distaste for what should be a meeting that is designed to empower and encourage positive change.

As we enter 2025, let’s explore common retrospective anti-patterns, their consequences, and actionable solutions to ensure your retrospectives remain effective and engaging.

1. The “Blame Game”

What it looks like:
Team members use the retrospective as an opportunity to blame each other instead of addressing systemic issues, creating a toxic and unproductive environment.

Real-life example:
After a sprint with a failed deliverable, one developer blamed the testers for slow feedback, while the testers blamed incomplete stories. This led to arguments instead of solutions.

How to avoid it:

  • Focus on processes, not people. Reframe personal attacks to encourage problem solving, not person blaming.
  • Remind people of the Agile Prime directive as needed.
  • Use tools like the 5 Whys technique to find root causes so that it moves the conversation forward.
  • Create a psychologically safe space as per Esther Derby highlights in Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great.

Further Resources:

2. The Team Dysfunctions Take Over

What it looks like:
Underlying team dysfunctions such as mistrust, fear of conflict, or lack of commitment overshadow the retrospective.

Real-life example:
A team avoided discussing a critical defect issue due to fear of offending the lead developer. The problem then resurfaced multiple times, eroding trust and morale. The fear of saying anything only got worse over time.

How to avoid it:

  • Address dysfunctions head-on using tools like Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team model.
  • Use exercises like creating Team Agreements to establish norms for respectful and open communication.
  • Consider leveraging online retrospective tools like TeamRetro, which includes features to facilitate anonymous feedback, ensuring everyone can safely share their ideas.

Resources:

3. Lack of Outcomes or Action Items

What it looks like:
Retrospectives end without clear, actionable next steps, leaving issues unresolved.

Real-life example:
A team repeatedly flagged poor sprint planning as an issue but didn’t create actionable steps to address it. The problem persisted, reducing the team’s trust in retrospectives and not understanding its value.

How to avoid it:

  • Use the SMART framework to create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound action items.
  • Assign ownership to each action and follow up in the next sprint review.
  • Ensure follow-up on actions from retro to retro, celebrate wins, and monitor progress.

Resources:

4. The “Groundhog Day” Retrospective

What it looks like:
Teams repeatedly discuss the same problems in every retrospective without resolving them. The question set is always the same, and responses are predictable, familiar, and static.

Real-life example:
For consistency, the same retro format was being used each sprint, and because of the nature of the product and job roles, the same repeated ideas and problems were coming up each fortnight. There didn’t seem to be any need for the retrospective.

How to avoid it:

  • Prioritize and limit the number of issues tackled in each sprint.
  • Focus on a specific theme or an aspect of the sprint that allows the team to focus on their ideas.
  • Change the retro format or questions to explore different angles and perspectives.
  • Change who facilitates the meeting or invite an observer or external facilitator.

Resources:

5. Not Having a Clear Process

What it looks like:
Retrospectives lack structure, leading to meandering conversations and missed opportunities for valuable insights. The meetings can go over time, or there isn’t the ability to have divergent and convergent thinking, discuss items in priority, or have meaningful discussions on individual items. The process changes each time, which also takes time for the team to relearn what needs to be done each time.

Real-life example:
Without a defined format, a team spent an entire retrospective debating tooling preferences, agreeing on a format and set of questions, and finding the right materials to start the brainstorming process, leaving no time to discuss sprint-related challenges.

How to avoid it:

  • Use structured retrospective formats like Start-Stop-Continue or Sailboat retrospectives.
  • Define objectives before the meeting and use a facilitator to guide discussions.
  • Have time-boxed steps that go from opening the retro, reviewing the agile prime directive, reviewing previous actions, sharing the theme of the current process, and then having a clear process for ideation, prioritization, discussion, and action planning.

6. Skipping a Retrospective

What it looks like:
Teams decide to skip retrospectives due to time constraints or assuming “everything is fine.”

Real-life example:
A team skipped retrospectives during a hectic product launch, believing they were unnecessary. Over time, unresolved issues piled up, causing delays and team frustration.

How to avoid it:

  • Treat retrospectives as non-negotiable. They are essential for continuous improvement, even during busy periods.
  • Keep them short and focused if time is limited.
  • Remind teams of the value of retrospectives using data from past improvements.

Resources:

7. The “Hijacked Agenda”

What it looks like:
Discussions veer off-topic, dominated by a single individual or unrelated issues.

How to avoid it:

  • Politely redirect tangents and consider anonymous contributions to ensure inclusivity.
  • Park ideas that don’t relate to the current theme or focus of the retro.

8. Focusing on Things Outside the Circle of Influence and Concern

What it looks like:
Team discussions revolve around problems outside their control or influence, such as company-wide policies or market conditions, leading to frustration and a sense of helplessness.

Real-life example:
In one retrospective, the team spent the majority of the time complaining about upper management decisions and market competition, leaving little energy or time to address internal processes they could actually improve.

How to avoid it:

  • Use the Circle of Control, Influence, and Concern framework to help the team identify and prioritize issues they can control or influence.
  • Encourage reframing: “What can we do given these constraints?”
  • Redirect conversations back to actionable topics with gentle facilitation techniques.
  • Set boundaries early in the retrospective, clarifying what can and can’t be addressed.

Resources:

9. Lack of Engagement and Participation

What it looks like:
Team members are disengaged, offering superficial feedback or no feedback at all, often due to fear, boredom, or a sense that their input won’t matter.

Real-life example:
During a retrospective, participants responded with minimal comments like “All good” or “Nothing to add.” The facilitator struggled to draw out meaningful input, leaving the session unproductive.

How to avoid it:

  • Build psychological safety by establishing ground rules and ensuring there are no negative repercussions for honest feedback
  • Use icebreakers or creative exercises to make retrospectives more engaging.
  • Provide opportunities for anonymous contributions
  • Vary the format to keep the team interested
  • Actively follow up on past feedback to show the team that their input is valued and acted upon.
  • Run a retro on your retro and ask the team about what they would like to see happen at the retrospective so that they can be more involved.
  • Show how past data and actions that have been followed through have helped lead to positive change to add value to the process.

Resources:

10. The “Boil the Ocean” Retrospective

What it looks like:
The team tries to tackle every issue raised during the sprint, resulting in an overwhelming and ineffective session with too many action items to manage.

Real-life example:
A team identified ten separate issues to address in one retrospective and attempted to solve all of them. They ran out of time, and none of the actions were followed through, leaving the team feeling overwhelmed and demotivated.

How to avoid it:

  • Prioritize issues by importance and urgency using techniques like Dot Voting or an Effort-Impact Matrix.
  • Focus on a maximum of 2–3 key issues per retrospective to ensure actionable outcomes.
  • Keep a “parking lot” for less critical issues to revisit later.
  • Remind the team that continuous improvement is an ongoing process and doesn’t require solving everything at once, especially at the retrospective itself.

By recognizing and addressing these retrospective anti-patterns, you can improve your effectiveness as a Scrum Master and create an environment where your team thrives. Tools like TeamRetro provide structured formats, action tracking, and feedback mechanisms to enhance your retrospectives and ensure they remain meaningful and productive.

Start 2025 by empowering your team with retrospectives that drive real change. Stay curious, stay agile, and keep improving! 🚀