CST Retrospective Formats & Anti-Patterns 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which retrospective format structures discussion around a timeline of Sprint events and asks team members to add emotional reactions to each event?
- Timeline Retrospective (Correct answer)
- SWOT Analysis
- Lean Coffee
- Starfish
Correct answer: Timeline Retrospective
The Timeline Retrospective maps Sprint events chronologically and layers emotional data, helping teams see patterns and turning points over time.
Question 2: The 'Starfish' retrospective format asks teams to categorize actions into five areas. Which option correctly lists all five?
- Stop, Start, Continue, More Of, Less Of (Correct answer)
- Keep, Add, Remove, Improve, Experiment
- Like, Dislike, Idea, Concern, Question
- What, So What, Now What, Who, When
Correct answer: Stop, Start, Continue, More Of, Less Of
The Starfish format uses five arms: Stop, Start, Continue, More Of, and Less Of — giving nuanced gradations beyond a binary keep/drop choice.
Question 3: A senior developer's opinions consistently override other team members' ideas during retrospectives. This exemplifies which anti-pattern?
- Anchoring bias from the first speaker
- HiPPO effect — Highest Paid Person's Opinion dominates (Correct answer)
- Dunning-Kruger facilitation failure
- Scrum Master authority overreach
Correct answer: HiPPO effect — Highest Paid Person's Opinion dominates
The HiPPO effect describes when the most senior or highest-paid person's opinion suppresses diverse input, reducing retrospective effectiveness.
Question 4: A Scrum Master wants to close a retrospective with a clear commitment. Which activity best achieves this?
- Asking the team to re-read the Definition of Done
- Having each team member silently reflect on what was discussed
- Dot voting on top improvement actions and assigning owners with due dates (Correct answer)
- Sending retrospective notes to the Product Owner for prioritization
Correct answer: Dot voting on top improvement actions and assigning owners with due dates
Dot voting surfaces the highest-priority actions, and assigning owners with due dates converts discussion into accountable commitments.
Question 5: Which statement best describes the 'blame storming' anti-pattern in retrospectives?
- The team generates too many action items to implement
- Discussions devolve into attributing failures to individuals rather than systemic issues (Correct answer)
- The Scrum Master takes over facilitation from the team
- Team members propose ideas without evidence
Correct answer: Discussions devolve into attributing failures to individuals rather than systemic issues
Blame storming shifts focus from systemic improvement to individual fault-finding, which damages psychological safety and inhibits honest retrospection.
Question 6: A Scrum Team uses the 'Lean Coffee' format in their retrospective. What is the defining characteristic of this format?
- All topics are pre-set by the Scrum Master before the meeting
- Participants democratically set the agenda and timebox each topic (Correct answer)
- Discussion is limited to the top three velocity blockers
- The Product Owner facilitates instead of the Scrum Master
Correct answer: Participants democratically set the agenda and timebox each topic
Lean Coffee is a structured but agenda-less meeting format where participants propose, vote on, and timebox topics collaboratively in real time.
Question 7: After several retrospectives the team notes their improvements have not changed outcomes. What should the Scrum Master do first?
- Escalate to the Product Owner to add retrospective items to the backlog
- Examine whether action items are truly systemic or only address symptoms (Correct answer)
- Replace the retrospective format with a more complex one
- Reduce the number of action items generated per retrospective
Correct answer: Examine whether action items are truly systemic or only address symptoms
Superficial action items that address symptoms rather than root causes lead to repeated issues; the Scrum Master should guide deeper root cause analysis.
CST Retrospective Formats & Anti-Patterns 3
Which retrospective format structures discussion around a timeline of Sprint events and asks team members to add emotional reactions to each event?