When Retrospectives Turn into Blamefests: I

I once suggested to a client that his team might benefit from conducting retrospectives from time to time, because retrospectives help teams identify what works and what doesn't. His response was: "We tried retrospectives and they just turn into blamefests, so let's find a better way." Thing is, there is no better way. [Kerth 2001] If retrospectives turn into blamefests, the thing to do is to fix them, not ban them.

To make retrospectives worthwhile for groups that have histories of retrospectives turning into blamefests, we must address the ongoing causes of the trouble by taking steps in three domains: before retrospectives, during retrospectives, and after retrospectives. In this Part I, I focus on measures to be taken during retrospectives. See Part II for suggested measures before conducting a retrospective, and Part III for suggested measures for the period after a retrospective.

About blaming and accountability

The word accountability is widely misused. To be accountable for an activity means to be responsible for and answerable for that activity. If something goes wrong, those accountable are expected to answer for their part in the goings-on, because we need their knowledge when we try to perfect our flawed systems. Blame is something more. To be blamed is to be accountable in a way deserving of censure, discipline, or other penalty, either explicit or tacit. [Brenner 2005]

A "blamefest" is an uncontrolled exchange of blaming assertions, counter-assertions, and other retaliations, offered without evidence or effect, other than harm to relationships between blamers and blamed.

Blame-control measures that we can deploy during retrospectives

These measures address the effects of organizational culture, past unpleasant experiences, participant behavior, and patterns of conducting the work itself.

Enlist the assistance of an expert facilitator

Facilitating retrospectives is an art in its own right. The benefits of experience are clear, but an expert facilitator brings two advantages even more important to the exercise: neutrality and its close partner, fairness. These advantages are especially important for groups that have histories of retrospectives turning into blamefests.

Be explicit about expectations of behavior

Have the group develop and adopt a list of behavioral norms that apply for the duration of the retrospective. For example, "We treat each other with respect." Another: "We don't interrupt each other." (Expressing them in the present tense does tend to give them more force) Do this as the first order of business. And if trouble breaks out later on, review the list of norms for possible expansion or clarification.

Use anonymity-based tactics

In environments where blamefests are likely, deficits of psychological safety are also likely. [Brenner 2023] When people don't feel psychologically safe, they're often concerned that their comments might invite some form of retaliation. Making it possible for people to contribute to the retrospective anonymously can mitigate these fears.

Don't attribute actions (or inactions) to others by name

It's difficult to blame Person P for Event E without using P's name. You can try to blame P indirectly, but the blaming then becomes more obvious. It goes like this: "E happened, and someone told me P did it." Of course, that's a lie unless someone actually said that P did it. To avoid lying, the formulation can only be the equivalent of, "E happened." And that form is free of blame.

Last words

Certainly we can devise more guidelines that could reduce the likelihood of an outbreak of blaming in a retrospective. But these are a good start. Next time I'll suggest guidelines for measures we can take that occur before a coming retrospective.   Next issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

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Footnotes

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