Talking English

Lack of focus – team members drift off-topic or discuss technical details irrelevant to the goal.
Dominant voices – one or two people speak too much, limiting participation from others.
Silence or disengagement – quieter members don’t share blockers or ideas.
Poor time management – meetings overrun or lack a clear structure.
No clear outcomes – discussions end without defined actions or owners.
Repetition – the same topics or blockers come up without resolution.
Missing participants – key stakeholders or developers skip meetings.
Insufficient preparation – backlog not updated, stories unclear, or priorities not set.
Overlapping discussions – multiple people talk at once or discuss multiple issues simultaneously.
Blame culture – focus shifts from solving problems to assigning fault.

Too long – instead of 15 minutes, the meeting drags on.
Status reporting instead of collaboration – updates are directed to the Scrum Master, not the team.
Lack of blockers discussion – team members hide or skip problems.
Distractions – team members multitask, check phones, or code during the meeting.
Remote challenges – connection issues or poor audio make communication hard.

⚙️ General Team & Process Issues

Unclear roles – team unsure who owns decisions or backlog items.
Scrum Master overload – acting more as a manager than facilitator.
Product Owner unavailability – can’t answer questions or clarify priorities.
No shared understanding – team interprets goals differently.
Lack of transparency – information not visible to everyone.
Too many tools – confusion between Jira, Trello, Confluence, Miro, etc.
Tool misuse – boards not updated, making progress invisible.
Inconsistent sprint cadence – sprints start or end at irregular times.
No Definition of Done (DoD) – unclear what “finished” means.
Hidden work – unplanned tasks or side projects not reflected in the sprint.
Micromanagement – leaders interfere in daily work decisions.
Context switching – members work on multiple projects simultaneously.
Burnout – too many meetings or unrealistic expectations.
Low trust – team doesn’t believe leadership will support improvements.
No feedback loop – insights from retrospectives never reach planning.

Monotony – same meeting format every time, no energy or engagement.
Over-reliance on one person – meetings collapse if that person is absent.
Language barriers – mixed teams struggle with English proficiency or accents.
Cultural differences – indirect vs. direct communication styles clash.
Interruptions – participants cut each other off or dominate the floor.
Lack of facilitation – meetings drift without structure or moderation.
Late arrivals / early leavers – breaks the flow of discussion.
Camera off / multitasking (remote) – hard to sense engagement.
Time zone issues – global teams can’t find a convenient meeting slot.
No written summary – decisions forgotten after the call ends.

Dependency overload – one team waiting on another delays progress.
Technical spikes skipped – complex work not explored before planning.
No buffer for uncertainty – every sprint packed too tightly.
Underestimation of testing effort – bugs emerge late.
Scope creep – mid-sprint changes without adjusting goals.
Unclear acceptance tests – team doesn’t know what success looks like.
Velocity obsession – focus on numbers, not learning.
Story points misunderstood – seen as performance metrics, not planning tools.
Non-prioritized backlog – team wastes time picking what to do next.

Stakeholder apathy – business side uninterested in demos or outcomes.
No celebration of wins – morale drops when achievements are ignored.
Too many action points – retros end with long wish lists, nothing implemented.
Vague improvement goals – “communicate better” instead of concrete actions.
Repetitive complaints – same blockers appear every sprint.
Resistance to change – team doesn’t apply lessons learned.
Negativity spiral – retrospective becomes a complaint session.
No metrics or data – discussions rely on opinions instead of facts.