The High Cost of Unsafe Agile Retrospectives | Terry Haayema

Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches

Terry Haayema: The High Cost of Unsafe Agile Retrospectives

Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.

"She was kind of like the mum for the team... she was actually the glue that held the team together."

Terry tells the story of a team that was functioning like a feature factory until a business analyst became their champion and "team mom." This BA supported everyone through agile transformation and helped build trust and healthy conflict. However, when she mentioned something in a retrospective that led to her being put on performance management and eventually leaving, the team rapidly self-destructed. They lost their sense of belonging and teamness, retreating back to working as independent professionals rather than collaborating. The story illustrates how leadership actions can instantly destroy weeks or months of trust-building work, and how critical psychological safety is for sustainable team performance.

For more critical points on how to be a great leader, check this episode with Captain David Marquet, a thought leader in the leadership space who wrote Turn the Ship Around!

Featured Book of the Week: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Terry credits The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni as massively influential in his career, particularly praising how Lencioni demonstrates that without trust as a foundation, teams cannot achieve anything else. The book's framework shows how lack of trust prevents healthy conflict, which prevents commitment, which prevents accountability, which prevents results. Terry found the way Lencioni illustrates these dysfunctions and their cascading effects to be incredibly valuable for understanding team dynamics and what's needed to build high-performing teams.

In this segment, we also refer to Agile Software Development with Scrum, by Schwaber and Beedle.

Self-reflection Question: What would happen to your team's dynamics if your most supportive, trust-building team member suddenly left tomorrow?

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Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she’s caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn’t just about the product—it’s about the people.

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About Terry Haayema

Terry is an international Author, Speaker, Conference Host, Trainer, Facilitator, Mentor and Transformative Coach whose personal purpose is to help people see differently, so they find joy.

You can link with Terry Haayema on LinkedIn, or visit his website to learn more about his book.