APM Retrospectives & Continuous Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A team consistently leaves retrospectives without actionable items. What is the most likely root cause?
- The team lacks psychological safety to surface real issues (Correct answer)
- The retrospectives are too short
- The Scrum Master is not present
- The team does not use sticky notes
Correct answer: The team lacks psychological safety to surface real issues
Without psychological safety, team members avoid voicing genuine problems, resulting in superficial discussions and no meaningful actions.
Question 2: The 'Start, Stop, Continue' retrospective technique is best described as:
- A method for prioritizing backlog items
- A framework for categorizing team behaviors into actions, eliminations, and reinforcements (Correct answer)
- A sprint review template for stakeholders
- A risk identification framework
Correct answer: A framework for categorizing team behaviors into actions, eliminations, and reinforcements
'Start, Stop, Continue' sorts team feedback into new behaviors to adopt, behaviors to eliminate, and behaviors to maintain.
Question 3: During a retrospective, two team members dominate the conversation while others stay silent. What should the facilitator do first?
- End the retrospective early
- Use structured techniques like round-robin sharing to include all voices (Correct answer)
- Ask the silent members to speak up individually
- Escalate the behavior to management
Correct answer: Use structured techniques like round-robin sharing to include all voices
Structured facilitation techniques ensure equal participation without singling out individuals or creating confrontation.
Question 4: What does 'Prime Directive' in retrospectives, as coined by Norm Kerth, state?
- The team must complete all retrospective action items by next sprint
- All retrospective findings must be documented and shared with stakeholders
- Regardless of what is discovered, everyone did the best they could given what they knew at the time (Correct answer)
- The Scrum Master has final authority over retrospective outcomes
Correct answer: Regardless of what is discovered, everyone did the best they could given what they knew at the time
Kerth's Prime Directive creates a blame-free environment by assuming all team members acted in good faith with the information available.
Question 5: A team completes a retrospective but never follows up on action items in subsequent sprints. Which practice would best address this?
- Hold longer retrospectives
- Assign action items as actual Sprint Backlog items with owners (Correct answer)
- Replace retrospectives with team surveys
- Have the Product Owner review retrospective notes
Correct answer: Assign action items as actual Sprint Backlog items with owners
Converting retrospective action items into sprint backlog items with clear owners makes them visible, trackable, and accountable.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes a 'Sailboat' (or 'Speed Boat') retrospective?
- A technique where the team races to complete retrospective tasks quickly
- A visual metaphor where wind represents helpers, anchors represent obstacles, and the island represents the goal (Correct answer)
- A method for distributing action items evenly across team members
- A velocity tracking exercise using nautical metaphors
Correct answer: A visual metaphor where wind represents helpers, anchors represent obstacles, and the island represents the goal
The Sailboat retrospective uses a nautical visual metaphor to help teams identify what accelerates progress and what holds them back.
Question 7: An agile team notices the same improvement topics appearing across multiple retrospectives. What does this pattern most likely indicate?
- The team is highly collaborative and engaged
- Retrospective action items are not being implemented or are addressing symptoms rather than root causes (Correct answer)
- The team should increase sprint length
- The Scrum Master should be replaced
Correct answer: Retrospective action items are not being implemented or are addressing symptoms rather than root causes
Recurring retrospective themes signal that previous action items were either not completed or failed to address the underlying root causes.
APM Retrospectives & Continuous Improvement 2
A team consistently leaves retrospectives without actionable items.
What is the most likely root cause?