SAFe Knowledge Base » Iteration Retrospective
Iteration Retrospective
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
—Agile Manifesto
Summary
Agile Teams applying SAFe Scrum hold a retrospective at the end of each iteration. Each retrospective seeks to uncover what’s working well, what’s not, and what the team can do better in the next iteration. Agile Teams applying SAFe Team Kanban hold retrospectives as needed, with a recommendation to match the same per iteration cadence. This aligns improvements and actions across an ART.
Note: For more on Agile Team events, please see the Framework articles in the series: Iteration Planning, Iteration Review, Team Sync, Team Backlog Refinement, and Iteration Retrospective. Each event can be utilized for Agile Teams that use SAFe Scrum or SAFe Team Kanban.
What is an Iteration Retrospective?
The Iteration Retrospective is a regular event held at the end of each iteration during which Agile Teams review their results to identify improvements for future work. The retrospective provides a dedicated time for the team to reflect on the recently completed iteration and derive new ideas to enhance both the product increment and their internal processes. By evaluating their current practices and behaviors, teams can implement continuous, relentless improvement to become more high-performing over time. It helps ensure that every iteration yields improvements.
What is the purpose of the Iteration Retrospective?
The purpose of the Iteration Retrospective is for the team to reflect on their completed work and the methods used to achieve it. This reflection allows the team to identify potential improvements for future iterations. It’s important to note that considering future changes requires a different mindset than evaluating past actions. Therefore, the Team Retrospective is a distinct event, separate from the Team Review.
Technological revolutions demand that organizations continuously strive to keep up; otherwise, they risk falling behind and being outperformed by competitors. For a business to thrive, its teams must consistently improve. While the goal is to create teams that are both effective and efficient, it is also crucial to regularly adjust team processes to align with changes in the business environment and technological landscape in which the organization operates.
Last Update: 18 March 2026