The development of software, products or services is high in complexity and thus often carried out by multidisciplinary teams that apply empirical principles and work according to the Scrum framework. These Scrum teams are described as autonomous and self-organizing. In addition to solving a complex challenge collaboratively, the team also needs to lead itself.

The aim of this thesis is to research, what value Scrum teams see in the Scrum ceremony retrospective and how the teams leverage this event to lead themselves. The commissioner of this work is Solita OY, a technology company originating from Tampere, where majority of development teams work according to the Scrum framework and where self-leadership is one of the most cherished competences.

The theoretical framework is describing the needs of multi-disciplinary teams and team dynamics through research work done before Scrum became the leading format according to which development work is organized. Through connecting elements such as multicultural and distributed teams to these fundamental studies, the theoretical framework has been brought into the current time.

The findings of the research explain how group design and team roles impact on the ability to self-organize, and how overlapping development phases increase the need for shared understanding and a shared frame of reference within a Scrum team. The research describes, what value Scrum teams find in retrospectives and give insights on what can further enable teams’ self-leadership capabilities and how this could be attempted to achieve.