What To Do When A Team Stops Trying To Improve

Here are some things you can try when you encounter a team that has stopped trying to improve.

Hold Regular Retrospectives
Encourage team members to reassert their commitment to holding a retrospective at the end of each iteration or at least once a month.

Some teams forgo retrospectives with the attitude that whenever a team member notices an opportunity to improve, they’ll share it. This rarely works because there are always more pressing needs and the improvement idea gets put aside. A dedicated time to discuss improvements each iteration works far better than discussing ideas as they’re conceptualized.

Focus the Team on Improvements They Can Make
Don’t perpetually ask the team to fix the impossible or even the improbable. Team members will become frustrated (and understandably so!) when they raise an issue again and again in retrospectives but the situation remains unchanged.

For example, if a new team member is needed but you’ve been told there’s no budget for one, don’t bring it up every retrospective. Instead, put a reminder in your calendar to ask about it again, perhaps in a few months.

Attempt Only a Few Improvements at a Time
Don’t try to improve too many things at once. Retrospectives can generate lots of improvement ideas. A team might be tempted to take on all of them simultaneously. Don’t. Instead, have team members agree on one to three things that they will make serious efforts to improve in the coming iteration.

Choose Improvements People Are Ready to Make
Encourage team members to select only those items they sincerely wish to fix. I once worked with a team that thought they should do code inspections. Every retrospective, they agreed they’d start. They never did.

I encouraged them to admit it was not something they were really ready to change and to focus instead on changes they were deeply willing to make.

The best teams are willing to try new things. Encourage this mindset by having the team reflect on their process. Experimenting with possible improvements every iteration is the way to succeed with agile,