Why retros can build, or break, team accountability

#2 of the ‘Building highly accountable teams’ series

Retrospectives, or ‘retros’, are usually associated with agile or engineering teams. They are one of the high-impact ways any team can build accountability into their culture.

Bosch Engineering put this to the test. Working with distributed teams, they introduced retros at the end of each sprint.

The structure was simple:

• What went well?

• What didn’t?

• What will we do differently next time?

Straightforward questions, asked regularly, created a rhythm for teams to pause, reflect, and reset. The benefits were clear. They had stronger collaboration, more open communication, and greater willingness to surface issues early, before they escalated. Accountability became part of the process, not an afterthought.

But it didn’t go well at the start. Trust between team members dipped after retros were introduced. Why? Because exposing problems only works if people feel safe doing it. In some teams, retros slipped into blame, or issues were raised but never resolved. Instead of building confidence, the process created frustration.

The lesson? Retros aren’t a silver bullet. They’re a tool, not a guarantee. Without follow-through and psychological safety, they can damage the very accountability they’re meant to build.

The Bosch example highlights a universal truth. Accountability doesn’t happen by accident. It requires systems for feedback that are consistent, safe, and action-oriented.

Your team’s system doesn’t have to be a retro. It might be a weekly huddle, a monthly dashboard review, or a quarterly “real truth” check-in. The format is less important than the discipline of making accountability a rhythm, where issues are raised, acted on, and reviewed.

What’s one rhythm you could put in place this week, retro or otherwise, that would make accountability part of how your team works, not just something you hope for at the end?

Teams don’t fail at accountability because they don’t care. They fail because the systems they use don’t stick. In our FREE online session ‘Creating your highly accountable team’, I’ll share what really makes accountability work: safe spaces for truth-telling, rhythms that keep action on track, and behaviours everyone owns. More info and registration here.