When Retrospectives Turn into Blamefests: II

Because retrospectives are such effective tools for fostering organizational learning, avoiding them altogether as a means of preventing blamefests is a sacrifice few organizations can afford. Last time I offered four guidelines for conducting retrospectives more safely. In this post I offer four safety-enhancing guidelines for preparing for retrospectives.

Anti-preparations for retrospectives

When a retrospective is scheduled in an organization that has a history of troubled retrospectives, people prepare well in advance for the coming blamefest. They devise excuses. They address the work with the blamefest in mind. They know that trouble is coming, and they seek safety by preparing for the trouble. I call these preparations anti-preparations, because even though they look like constructive preparation, they amount to little more than stockpiling ammunition for the coming blamefest.

In advance of the event, preparations that take these anti-preparations into account can make controlling the retrospective more effective. The focus of advance anti-anti-preparations should be making blaming more obvious.

Measures that we can deploy in advance of a coming retrospective

Here are four examples of anti-anti-preparations measures.

In the planning stage, create impersonal names for events

Define names for specific events that are planned to occur during the work. For example, for the first integration test of the Green modules, define the name Green Integration. Names like these are handy at every stage of the work, including during the retrospective.

But more important, they prevent the practice of using personal names or business unit names during the retrospective. That practice can easily lead to blaming behavior. For example, suppose that instead of "Green Integration" we use the name "Integrating Randy's work." Suppose also that the work takes two weeks longer than planned. Compare these two statements for their effect on blaming behavior:

• We were late because Integrating Randy's work took longer than planned.
• We were late because Green Integration took longer than planned.

Personal names for events elevate the risk of blaming.

Don't mix ranks

When a retrospective occurs in an organization
with a history of blamefests, people prepare for
the blamefest. They devise excuses; they
address the work with the blamefest in mind.
They seek safety by preparing for war.

A mixed-rank participant roster is one in which some of the participants are in roles that lie within the report chains of other participants. This situation creates a temptation on the part of rivals to call out individuals' performance in the presence of their superiors, an act that then invites retaliation. Perversely, it also creates a temptation on the part of close friends not to raise issues that could call a friend's performance into question. Mixed-rank rosters are analogous to tinderboxes. They invite blaming and suppress truth.

In organizations that use 360-degree feedback processes for performance management, there is a risk that retaliation cycles that are related to the 360 process and which are unrelated to the retrospective can propagate into the retrospective. Monitoring the data collected by the performance management system can provide early warning of this difficulty.

Require attendance

Everyone is important. Make clear to all participants that attendance is required. Absence or partial absence can deprive the event of a source of information about the happenings that occurred during execution of the work. That knowledge void can cause the group to come to incorrect conclusions about what, how, who, when, or why as it tries to identify past successes and future adjustments.

But with respect to blamefests, there is another more important reason to require attendance. With respect to some unwelcome event, it's easier to blame someone who's absent than it is to blame someone who's present. Absenteeism — even partial absenteeism — encourages blaming.

Conduct training for retrospective participants

Train everyone in retrospective participation. Ensure that everyone understands what blaming is, what the role of the facilitator is, why we use impersonal names for events, what behavioral norms are, what the "X-happened" formulation is, why attendance is required, and so on. Also explain how your retrospective supports anonymous contributions, and what safeguards are in place to protect anonymity. [Atwater 2007]

Consider the possibility that participants in your retrospective might also be participants in another retrospective shortly before or after yours. Those other retrospectives might have different expectations and norms, which might be different enough to cause confusion. Perhaps these differences can be resolved by both retrospectives making adjustments, but if not, explain to participants that there are differences between your event and other events. Ask for their help in following your event plan.

Last Words

If the pattern of retrospectives descending into blamefests is well established, one possible — even probable — cause is the nature of the organizational culture. A blame-oriented culture can overwhelm any measures you take to control behavior in your retrospectives. [Brenner 2005.1] If the problem is actually a blame-oriented culture, address that first. [Brenner 2014.1] Compelling abstinence from blaming behavior patterns doesn't work in blame-oriented cultures.

Next time I'll examine measures to take following retrospectives.   First issue in this series    Next issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

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