Multiple Choice
- Yes, It’s their process why not?
- No, explain to them and work through why the retrospective is so important.
- Maybe, if they are no longer a team then why continue with Scrum?
- Only do retrospectives once a quarter and build up a good list of things to change.
- Yes, the process will take care of itself we don’t need to watch it that closely. After all it’s common sense!
Comment: It boils down to this rule: If the team is not doing a retrospective then they are not doing scrum. The retrospective is where the team takes formal ownership of their process. In these situations I crack shins, and kick knee caps and generally do what is necessary to ensure they continue doing a retrospective. Without that we often see teams fall into “it’s not my fault” because “x” told me to. In some cases “x” is the process that no-one owns, imagine the process that gets created by someone who decides to own it but, does not do it themselves!.
Retrospective is an external constraint that must be demanded of the team. There are many ways to run a good retrospective, ScrumMaster rise to the challenge and support your team.