At Intercom, project retrospectives are an integral part of team planning and are used to reflect on how teams have worked together and improve for the future. The company culture values transparency and strives for continuous improvement, recognizing that doing the same thing over and over again will not lead to different results. To ensure effective retrospectives, Intercom uses a framework that includes gathering input in advance, sticking to the point, making it a democracy where everyone's opinion is heard, being open and honest, drawing action items and owners, getting consensus, and keeping within time limits. After the retro, outcomes and lessons learned are shared widely with the team, including via email, to ensure visibility into the issues encountered and what has been taken away from the project.