Do I need a retrospective after 10 years?

Asked by: Ezequiel Pacocha PhD  |  Last update: February 20, 2026
Score: 4.2/5 (24 votes)

Yes, you absolutely need a retrospective after 10 years (or even yearly/quarterly) for personal or professional growth, as it's a crucial tool for learning from the past decade's successes, failures, and changes, providing clarity to set better goals for the future, rather than letting valuable lessons fade away, which is the core of continuous improvement. While regular, shorter retros (like monthly or sprint-based) drive immediate habits, a decade-long review offers profound insights into personal development, career trajectory, and relationships, transforming broad experiences into actionable wisdom.

Is a retrospective meeting mandatory?

Correct Answer: It is mandatory. The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to assess its performance and improve itself.

What is the golden rule of retrospective?

What is the golden rule of retrospectives? To create a safe environment where team members can speak openly. It's essential to focus on continuous improvement rather than blame, ensuring that every voice is heard and valued.

How often should you have a retrospective?

Remember, retrospectives can take place at any interval you want them to. If your key project milestones are at the end of every month, then hold a project retrospective every month.

When to have a retrospective?

Retrospectives work best when done at the end of each sprint. However, if your sprints are short (like one week), it may make more sense to do a retrospective after every other sprint.

Gravity Falls: 10 Years Later - A Retrospective

22 related questions found

What is the 80 20 rule in scrum?

Most products follow the 80/20 rule, where a small portion (~20%) of features delivers most (~80%) of the impact. Identifying those high-value items and moving them to the top of the backlog ensures meaningful outcomes reach customers quickly.

What are the 5 stages of the retrospective?

The 5 stages of a retrospective, popularized by the book "Agile Retrospectives", provide a structured way for teams to improve, consisting of Set the Stage, Gather Data, Generate Insights, Decide What To Do, and Close the Retrospective. These phases guide the team from creating a safe environment to identifying actionable improvements, ensuring a productive review of past work.
 

What is the 25 50 rule for meetings?

The idea is that a 30-minute meeting should be cut down to 25 minutes, the other 5 minutes should be spent disconnected. A 60-minute meeting should be cut down to 50 minutes with 10 minutes spent disconnected.

What is the 3 5 3 rule in agile?

The 3-5-3 rule in Agile (specifically Scrum) is a simple framework summarizing the core components: 3 Roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers), 5 Events (Sprint, Planning, Daily Scrum, Review, Retrospective), and 3 Artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment). It serves as a quick checklist to ensure teams implement Scrum effectively, providing structure, transparency, and continuous feedback for better product delivery. 

What are the four questions in a retrospective?

How to run a 4Ls Retrospective

  • Loved: What went well during the project? These are the things that team members appreciated, enjoyed, or found to be effective.
  • Loathed: What made things worse? ...
  • Longed for: What do team members wish they'd had during the sprint? ...
  • Learned: What new knowledge or skills did the team gain?

What should we stop doing in retrospective?

Sprint Retrospective "Stop" Examples

Stop continuing to use an outdated tool that has proven to be inefficient. Stop spending too much time on non-priority tasks that do not directly contribute to project goals. Stop ignoring feedback from team members and stakeholders. Stop adding too many stories into the sprint.

What are the three retrospective questions?

Retrospectives should be easy in theory. Just ask a few questions – What went well? What didn't go well? What did we learn?

What is the 15 10 5 rule in scrum?

The "15 10 5 rule in Scrum" refers to two different guidelines: one for Daily Scrum meetings (15 mins total, 10 for updates/3 questions, 5 for impediments) and another for Sprint Capacity Allocation (15% tech debt, 10% bugs, 5% exploratory spikes), both aiming to keep work focused and address crucial maintenance/innovation alongside feature development, though the daily meeting rule is more about timeboxing, while capacity is about workload balance. 

What should not be discussed during a retrospective meeting?

10 Common Mistakes to Avoid During Retrospective Meetings

  1. Lack of Clear Purpose & Structure.
  2. Ineffective Facilitation.
  3. Blaming and Finger-Pointing.
  4. Lack of Actionable Insights.
  5. Dominating or Silent Participants.
  6. Lack of Focus on Celebrating Successes.
  7. Failure to Follow Up.
  8. Ineffective Time Management.

Should a manager attend Retro?

The basic rule is probably clear: managers should tend to stay away from the retro, because they are very likely to limit openness in the team. At the same time, in a perfect world, managers are in a way part of the team, are servant leaders and also have a relationship of trust with their employees.

Why is retrospective needed?

Retrospectives are an excellent opportunity for your agile team to evaluate itself and create a plan to address areas of improvement for the future. The retrospective embraces the ideal of continuous improvement and protects against the pitfalls of complacency by stepping outside the work cycle to reflect on the past.

What is the 20 30 50 rule in Agile?

Best Practice #5: Follow the 20/30/50 Rule

It is a popularly used rule so that the prioritization is effective. The rule states that: 20% of the Product Backlog items should be always almost ready for delivery. 30% of the stories should be in a phase where there is enough information though detailing needs to be done.

Is 1 story point equal to 1 day?

Is 1 story point equal to 1 day? No. There is no universal conversion between points and days. One team's “1-point” item may take a few hours; another team's may take a full day.

What is the 7th principle of Agile?

Agile Principle 7 emphasizes that the most important measure of progress in any project is the delivery of functional, working software. Rather than focusing on completed tasks or rigid processes, teams should prioritize creating software that adds value to users.

What is the 10-10-10 rule for meetings?

The 10/10/10 Rule for meetings, popularized by Suzy Welch, is a framework for better decision-making that asks you to consider a decision's impact across three timeframes: how you'll feel about it in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years, helping you move past emotional reactions to strategic thinking and long-term alignment. While sometimes adapted for 1:1 meetings (10 min for them, 10 min for you, 10 min for future), the primary use is as a decision-making tool to gain perspective and avoid impulsive choices by evaluating short-term, medium-term, and long-term consequences. 

What is the 2 minute trick?

“If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it's defined.” Simple, yet potent, this rule is a defense against procrastination and letting the small things in work and life add up.

What is the 7 minute rule for meetings?

If you talk less than seven minutes, people won't quite grasp what you have to say. If you talk more than seven minutes, you'll drone on a bit too much and lose people. It's the ideal length for holding the attention of a crowd.

What are common retrospective mistakes?

One of the most common complaints about retrospectives is that people fail to bring up real issues or admit to their problems. If people aren't going, to be honest in a retrospective, the argument goes, they're a waste of time. That's actually probably true.

What are the 5 C's of scrum?

The 5 C's of Scrum refer to the essential Scrum Values: Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness, and Respect, which guide behavior, foster collaboration, and create a strong foundation for high-performing agile teams to deliver complex products successfully. These values support transparency, inspection, and adaptation, making Scrum events meaningful and empowering teams to handle change effectively.
 

What are the pillars of retrospective?

In my role as a Scrum Master, I have continually strived to find new ways to enhance the efficiency and productivity of our meetings. My experience suggests three pillars for a successful retrospective meeting: the facilitator, the element of surprise, and feedback.