Iteration retrospective
The iteration retrospective is the team-level event at iteration end where the team inspects how it worked together — process, collaboration, technical practices — and commits to specific changes for the next iteration. It is distinct from the iteration review (which inspects what was built).
SAFe's retro is identical in intent to Scrum's: a regular reflection that produces durable improvement. The common pathology is retro decay: the first few are energetic, then they devolve into 'what went well / what didn't / no concrete actions' theatre. Counters include rotating formats (4Ls, Sailboat, Start-Stop-Continue, force-field), strict commitment to 1-2 actions per retro tracked to completion in the next, and an annual reset where the team picks 2-3 systemic issues to work on for a quarter rather than one-off items per iteration.
Related terms
- Iteration review
The iteration review is the team-level demo at the end of each iteration in which completed stories are shown to the team and to direct stakeholders.
- Iteration planning
Iteration planning is the team-level event at the start of each SAFe iteration (typically 2 weeks) where the team selects stories from its backlog to commit to, breaks them into tasks, and confirms team capacity.
- Inspect & adapt workshop
Inspect & Adapt is the SAFe event at the end of each Program Increment in which the ART reviews quantitative results (PI Objectives achieved, predictability measure, business value scoring), demos the integrated solution, and runs a structured problem-solving workshop on the top systemic improvements to commit to in the next PI.