Scrum Metaphor: Retro as Family Meeting

Retro is one of the most important ceremonies in scrum framework. In retro team members should speak freely without any fear of retribution and judging. Retro is like Family Meeting.

As name suggests, in family meeting only family members are allowed to participate, who can watch the back of each other. Similarly, in retro only team members who can back up each other ( devTeam) and Scrum Master ( after all he is a servant leader for the team) and Product Owner (is your PO part of the family?) should participate. Like family meeting, retro should be conducted in a closed-door environment where everyone expresses his or her opinion, grievances can share freely without fear of judgment by others.

In a family meeting, family can discuss a lot of things but family may decide to share few selective bits of information with the external world, so the retro. In the family meeting, all is discussed – good, bad, and worst. Family decides what to share with the external world but family work as collective to improve overall capability of the family.

Family meeting works like a mirror to family and helps family members to remain trustworthy to each other and become better over time.