Several years ago, I participated as an observer in a Sprint Retrospective of a team. The Scrum Master facilitated the event with beautiful drawings to encourage active participation from the attendees. The Sprint Retrospective ran smoothly. They gathered the data, generated insights and decided what to do.
In the subsequent Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Master introduced a Mario Kart theme as part of the facilitation process. The event, again, ran smoothly. The Scrum Master reviewed that facilitation was successful and decided to keep applying the fun elements during the Sprint Retrospective. However, when I revisited the team several months later, the team barely kept the “fun” style, and the attendees were not energetic anymore.
Some Scrum Masters suggest making the Sprint Retrospective fun to encourage greater participation from the team members. They also propose incorporating engaging ice-breaking activities before the Sprint Retrospective begins. However, I have a different opinion on this matter.
In reality, working is not always fun. It is often stressful. Using these tricks creates an illusion that participants enjoy being in the Sprint Retrospective.
The more time the Scrum Master uses these tricks, the more they over-emphasise them rather than focusing on the true purpose of the Sprint Retrospective. The participants may enjoy the ice-breaking activities, but their focus shifts away from discussing the effectiveness of the Sprint. Those hesitant to speak up would remain silent even after the ice-breaking activities.
Work would not be fun when Mario Kart is brought in the Sprint Retrospective. Work becomes fun when times are generating the aha moment. Work becomes fun when the team is collaboratively approaching the goal.
Scrum Masters are not accountable for facilitating the Sprint Retrospective. They should only ensure there is a Sprint Retrospective. Having such a large overhead Sprint Retrospective turns the Scrum Master into the only facilitator. If the Scrum Masters have to change the ice-breaking activities or fun elements during every Sprint Retrospective, they will eventually run out of creativity. That is why Scrum Masters should not over-rely on these tricks.
Instead of falling into the trap of being a “Scrum mom”, the team should focus on what made it difficult for us to be successful in this Sprint. After generating the insights and deciding what to do, the Scrum Master should ensure the team has executed the actions.
Only when the problem hindering effectiveness is addressed and solved, will the team consider it worthwhile to have the Sprint Retrospective. They will genuinely participate in the Sprint Retrospective without expending effort on playful tricks.