The Small Habits that Build Better Teams
Big change starts with small habits
When teams seek improvement, the temptation is often to pursue big changes. A new framework, process, or tool feels exciting. But in daily work, it’s not usually these sweeping moves that make the biggest difference.
Progress often comes from something quieter. Small, consistent habits shape how a team collaborates, how trust grows, and how improvement is sustained. Like steady care in a garden, these everyday actions build strength over time. At first, they may seem invisible, but together they create a culture where growth is expected.
Many teams already run retrospectives or reviews. But they are often irregular, repetitive, or disconnected from real work. Actions get logged, but not acted on. Some voices dominate, while others go unheard. This is why retros can feel like gestures rather than habits. The ceremony exists, but the follow-through is fragile.
Why habits matter more than gestures
Planting once and walking away does not grow a garden. In the same way, a single retrospective or review will not create change. What matters is the regular rhythm of listening, reflecting, and acting.
Habits turn intentions into results. A team that reflects consistently, values every voice, and follows through on actions builds trust and resilience. Improvement stops being a rare event and becomes part of the workflow. Step by step, progress compounds.
Yet in many organisations, retrospectives and reviews are still treated as optional. They are the first thing cut when deadlines press. Without consistent care, insights fade, and the cycle breaks. The ceremony remains, but the habit that gives it power is missing.
The reality teams face
Teams want to get better, but reflection often falls short. Common challenges include:
- Sessions feel repetitive or lack focus.
- Outcomes are captured but not acted on, resurfacing repeatedly in future review cycles (adding to point one).
- Insights live outside workflows (think Jira for software teams or Confluence for marketing teams) and are forgotten as daily work requirements dominate.
- Louder voices dominate, quieter ones hold back.
- Retros are inconsistent, skipped, or rushed.
These challenges weaken trust. People disengage because they doubt reflection leads to change. The result is a cycle where time is spent in retros, but little improvement follows. Like the neglected soil in our garden analogy, the conditions for growth disappear.
What happens when reflection becomes a habit
When reflection is a habit, retrospectives and reviews shift from a chore to a valuable practice. Here is what changes:
- Teams pause regularly, not just in crisis.
- Every voice is heard and considered.
- Actions stay connected to work in Jira.
- Clear ownership ensures progress is visible.
- Sessions feel purposeful and safe, building trust.
The role of the ceremony
Retrospectives, reviews, and debriefs give teams space to pause and act. They are not solely about templates (which can help) or rituals. At their best, they create safety, learning, and ownership.
When run well, ceremonies create rhythm. They remind teams to step back and ask: How are we working together? This rhythm surfaces issues early, strengthens collaboration, and builds confidence that problems will be addressed.
But ceremonies only work when they are consistent and connected. A retro once in a while will not resolve recurring blockers. A review that loses actions will not improve delivery. Habits are what make the difference.
Small habits that build stronger teams
Here are the habits that matter most:
- Reflect regularly, not occasionally. Short, frequent retros uncover issues early.
- Keep preparation simple. Templates and light structure save time.
- Create a safe and inclusive space. Anonymous input helps every voice be heard.
- Connect actions to work. Capture them directly in Jira, where delivery happens.
- Focus on follow-through. Revisit actions, even small ones, to show progress.
- Build momentum with small wins. Fixing one blocker compounds over time.
- Celebrate progress. Recognition reinforces the value of reflection.
With these habits, retros and reviews shift from overhead to support. Tools help, too. A free retro tool can make it significantly easier to plant and protect these habits without the overhead.
Making it easier
This is where Review by Easy Agile helps. Review is a free retro tool inside Jira that makes retrospectives, reviews, and debriefs more structured, inclusive, and action-focused. It’s designed to make good habits simple to start and sustain.
With Review, teams can:
- Use built-in templates to cut prep time.
- Gather anonymous input to create safety.
- Prioritise ideas with voting and reactions.
- Capture owned actions directly in Jira boards and backlogs.
Because Review is Jira-native, there are no extra logins, no context switching, and no risk of insights disappearing. Reflection becomes part of the workflow, not an add-on. And because it is free, any team can start today.
Small steps, big outcomes
The biggest improvements rarely arrive in one leap. They grow from small, steady steps: fixing a blocker, simplifying a process, making space for every voice.
Consistent retros and reviews turn reflection into progress. Over time, these small habits create a culture of trust and improvement that sustains itself.
Healthy teams, like healthy gardens, are not built overnight. They grow because people return regularly to care for them. Each small act compounds into stronger collaboration, better delivery, and greater trust.
This applies beyond software. Any team that takes time to reflect and act can build habits that help them thrive.
Start planting the seeds of better teamwork with Review by Easy Agile, a free retro tool in Jira.
Related Articles
Agile Best PracticeUnlocking the Potential of Teams with People-Centered Retrospectives
When I first began working as a Scrum Master, I quickly became focused on the world of metrics. I believed that for my teams to succeed, they needed to have a continuously improving velocity, a stable cumulative flow diagram, or a perfect burn-down chart.
Sound familiar?
The problem with these metrics is that they are efficiency, not value focused.
It doesn't matter if a team builds one hundred new features rapidly if none of those actually deliver value to the customer. Efficiency metrics also have a habit of being misused and misunderstood, and this can breed malcontent.
Rather than focusing heavily on the data in retrospectives, I aim to focus on the people. The Agile Manifesto after all is about enabling people and their interactions.
Each of us are beating hearts behind our devices
Making time for human interaction...has resulted in far better outcomes than any beautifully constructed burndown chart.
Through embracing a human-first approach, a team I once worked with learned that they as a group were avid gamers. They'd been working together for years but hadn't known. This team was under a lot of pressure to deliver to difficult timescales and retros had fallen by the wayside.
This was the first thing I focused on; getting them believing in retrospectives again. Taking a human-centred approach, I melted the ice with some unfettered time to talk about non-work stuff “What was your favourite childhood video game”.
Just a few minutes of idle chatter about Sonic, Legend of Zelda, and Mario kicked off a chain of events that started with a few of them arranging to game together that evening, and before long, we had weekly video game-themed zoom backgrounds and retrospectives always had a gaming twist. Think Dungeons & Dragons, Tetris, Pokémon & Among Us.
Another great sign that a team is on the right track is how much they laugh together. This team was noticeably happier as a consequence, the change was drastic, almost tangible.
We aren't just avatars on our screens, each of us are beating hearts behind our devices, with passions, likes, dislikes, and aspirations. Making time for human interaction and building retrospectives that focus on our human side, has resulted in far better outcomes than any beautifully constructed burndown chart.
Why embrace a People-Centred approach?
Let’s delve a little into why you should focus on the human side. What’s in it for you?
- Increased Team Engagement and Participation: When retros are people-centered, team members will feel more connected to their colleagues, they’ll feel more comfortable actively participating, and have an increased sense of ownership of the team's successes and challenges.
- Improved psychological safety: With a people-centric approach, you can more easily create a safe and inclusive environment for team members to share their thoughts and experiences openly, without fear of judgement. This can foster a sense of belonging and increase the overall morale of the team.
- More enjoyment: We spend 8 of our waking hours working and half or more of our adult lives working. We owe it to ourselves to have a bit of fun in the process. A people-centric approach can result in people looking forwards to the next retro. More enjoyment, more engagement, and better outcomes. Simple.
- Better profitability: Oh, and it’s also better for the bottom line. A study by Gallup found a clear link between engagement and profitability in companies. Why are highly engaged teams more profitable? Teams that rank in the top 20% for engagement experience a 41% decrease in absenteeism and a 59% decrease in turnover. Engaged employees come to work with enthusiasm, focus, and energy.
The perfect conditions for continuous improvement.
Looking to get started with a few people-focused retrospectives?
Try a few of these free templates;
Psychological Safety Retro
The Aristotle project led by Google, found that the presence of psychological safety was the biggest factor in high performance for teams. Use this format to build the foundations of psychological safety with your teams, baseline the current levels and develop actions to improve.
Healthy Minds Retro
You wouldn’t let your car go without a service, and I bet your phone battery rarely goes below 10%. Why don’t we place the same focus on looking after our own needs, individually or collectively? Use this retro to narrow in on improvements that improve your team's health.
Spotify Health Check Retro
Famed for the agile framework that was never intended as a framework, some coaches at Spotify also released a team health check format which is great for measuring and visualising progress as a team. The simplicity of this format and its ability to highlight areas of focus as well as progress over time is particularly powerful. The best bit? It’s the team's perspective, not any external maturity model or arbitrary metric.
Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose Retro
Based upon the book ‘Drive’ by Dan Pink which highlighted the surprising things that motivate us, this retro helps teams to investigate the areas of their work which amplify or dampen our sense of autonomy, mastery & purpose. This book was a game changer for me and this retro could change the game for your teams.
5 Dysfunctions of a Team Retro
Another format based upon a highly acclaimed book, this retro builds upon the works of Patrick Lencioni and his 5 dysfunctions of a team. Using this retro, you can highlight the dysfunctional behaviours in your team and collectively solve those challenges together. One team, our problems, our solutions.
Let’s leave you with some things to think about
The key to unlocking the true potential of your teams lies in embracing a people-centered approach to retrospectives. By focusing on the human side of our teams, we can foster stronger connections, create a safe and inclusive environment, and ultimately drive better outcomes for both the team and the organization.
Remember, the Agile Manifesto is about enabling people and their interactions, and by placing people at the heart of our retrospectives, we can build stronger, happier, and more productive teams.
Forget about chasing the perfect metrics, and instead focus on building meaningful connections and fostering a culture of continuous improvement that is rooted in the human experience.
Retrospectives integrated with your work in Jira
Hoping to improve how your team is working together? Easy Agile TeamRhythm helps you turn insights into action, to improve how you’re working and make your next release better than the last.
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About Chris
For ten years now, Chris Stone has been fostering an environment of success for high-performing teams and organizations through the use of agility. He has worked across a wide range of industries and with some of the largest organizations in the world, as well as with smaller, lean enterprises.
As The Virtual Agile coach, Chris intends to enable frictionless innovation, regardless of location, and is a firm believer in enabling agility whilst working virtually. Find him online at Virtually Agile >>