Are your retrospectives producing results?

Retrospectives can be one of the most potent team and organizational improvement tools. Yet, let’s be honest—most teams aren’t getting any value out of them.

Here’s how retrospectives typically go:

A facilitator asks, "What went well? What didn’t?" Team members hesitate to raise genuine issues, fearing repercussions, so they stick to safe, minor topics. Maybe someone mentions a well-known problem. Notes are taken, and after 15 minutes, the discussion is over. Later, the facilitator escalates the issue to a manager, who says that's how things are done here. Tell the team to stop complaining and focus on fixing internal issues. Nothing changes, morale drops, trust erodes, and improvement stalls.

Now, here’s how to run retrospectives that drive improvement:

1. Dedicate Time for Real Discussions: Schedule 90 minutes every two weeks, focused solely on continuous improvement. This gives the team the time to dig into issues in depth.
2. Create a Safe Space for Honesty: Have team members privately write down what helped or hindered them over the past few weeks using sticky notes or an online tool. Group similar ideas and use silent voting to identify the top 3–5 issues. This depersonalized process removes fear and encourages openness.
3. Focus Deeply on Key Issues: Spend 15 minutes discussing the most critical issue. Dive into the problem, brainstorm solutions, assign clear actions, and name owners. Once resolved, move to the next issue, ensuring you drive to action on each issue.
4. Capture and Action Results: Summarize the outcomes on a shared board, making actions and accountability visible. Ask leaders to prioritise resolving these issues by the next retrospective to show the team they are being listened to, and things are improving.
5. Scale the Feedback Loop: Bring all teams together regularly for group-level retrospectives to address cross-team challenges. Work with senior leaders to resolve systemic issues and drive structural change.

When done right, retrospectives catalyse continuous systemic improvement across the organisation. They help teams address root causes, empower better decision-making, and foster collaboration between teams and leadership.

The result is a culture of continuous improvement that delivers better outcomes for everyone.

This is basic stuff that everyone should be doing.