Retro's are at the core of agile, since they empower the team to finetune their own process. I don't agree on the manager not being present. The manager must b

Retro's are at the core of agile, since they empower the team to finetune their own process. I don't agree on the manager not being present. The manager must be present in my opinion, but I think you are facing a different problem: Your manager is the 'boss' and not at the service of their team. Try to push your manager to be at the service of your team. If that doesn't work (which most probably is), go work for a manager that actually is at the service of their team.