The Human Factor — Managing Bias and Emotions in Retrospectives

Continuous improvement is the foundation of agile frameworks, and retrospectives are a key ingredient in that, but what about the human factor? 

Most of us use biased language without giving it a second thought.

Biases come in all forms. There are biases against each generation, people with disabilities and LGBTQ individuals—even a person's height can cause bias.

It's essential to realize that all biases hurt the success of organizations. By creating an environment for open dialogue, you can make a strong effort to address this issue.

Quoting Dave Snowden, “We don’t actually remember events as they happened if we wait to reflect, as people tend to describe the past through the lens of the present’s political context.” 

The above statement really questions if people are as objective and unbiased in retrospectives as we assume them to be. Today’s political context defines how people also describe the past. 

However, some strategies can help us mitigate the impact of biases and emotions in Agile retrospectives. Here are a few tips for successful retrospectives:

𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 — especially be careful with data as, without context, data is often noise. So make sure you look at facts and data through the lens of context.

𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 — Scrum Master is also part of the team, so not as neutral. So maybe sometimes get another scrum master to facilitate for your team, and you could do the same for them.

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 — it sets the foundation for productive and respectful interactions.

𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — fosters a supportive and transparent environment, allowing for the exchange of diverse ideas and perspectives.

Use techniques to promote objectivity — There are tons of facilitation techniques. Use them. I often use the ones at Liberating structures .