There are plenty of failure possibilities with Scrum. Given that Scrum is a framework with a reasonable yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone. One area where Scrum’s nature of being intentionally incomplete causes issues regularly is whether Scrum teams shall stick to the event schedule even if the team’s life is uneventful? For example, is skipping Retrospectives okay?
Join me and delve into the consequences of skipping Retrospectives in less than 90 seconds.
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There are many references to events in general and Retrospectives in particular in the Scrum Guide 2020:
- Page 7: Each event in Scrum is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt Scrum artifacts.
- Page 7: [Scrum] events are specifically designed to enable the transparency required.
- Page 7: Failure to operate any events as prescribed results in lost opportunities to inspect and adapt.
- Page 7: Events are used in Scrum to create regularity and to minimize the need for meetings not defined in Scrum.
- Page 7: Optimally, all events are held at the same time and place to reduce complexity.
- Page 10: The purpose of the Sprint Retrospective is to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness.
- Page 10: The Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint went with regards to individuals, interactions, processes, tools, and their Definition of Done.
- Page 10: [During the Sprint Retrospective,] assumptions that led [inspected elements] astray are identified and their origins explored.
- Page 10: The Scrum Team discusses what went well during the Sprint, what problems it encountered, and how those problems were (or were not) solved.
- Page 10: The Scrum Team identifies the most helpful changes to improve its effectiveness.
- Page 10: The most impactful improvements are addressed as soon as possible. They may even be added to the Sprint Backlog for the next Sprint.
- Page 10: The Sprint Retrospective concludes the Sprint.
- Page 10: [The Sprint Retrospective] is timeboxed to a maximum of three hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter.
Source: Scrum Guide 2020. (The aggregation is taken from the Scrum Guide 2020 Reordered.)
Every Scrum event is an opportunity for inspection and adaptation, two of the three pillars upon which empiricism rests. Every Scrum event is hence essential, and skipping Retrospectives — or any other event — is, therefore, not an option.
In my experience, Scrum teams consider not having Retrospectives for two reasons:
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Every Scrum event is an opportunity for inspection and adaptation; next to transparency, the two pillars upon which empiricism rests. Every Scrum event is hence essential, and skipping it is not an option. When everything seems to be perfect, you are not trying hard enough to have difficult conversations. And not investing an hour or so as a team to continuously improve just demonstrates that you are at a very early stage of your journey. Professionals hold each other accountable; you’re an amateur at best in comparison.
Have you met a Scrum team skipping Retrospectives? Please share your learnings with us in the comments.
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