Fun retrospective templates can make a sprint review feel fresh, but the template is only a prompt. The useful result is a small, agreed improvement the team tries and checks in its next Sprint. Choose an exercise for the conversation you need—action planning, emotional reflection, root-cause analysis, risk mapping, workload reflection or prioritization—rather than assuming one format is best for every team.
What makes a retrospective useful?
A retrospective is a team reflection on how work went and how the team can improve its working practices. Scrum.org describes the Sprint Retrospective as time for the Scrum Team to improve its effectiveness and how it works together: Scrum.org’s overview explains its purpose. The discussion can cover interactions, impediments, the Definition of Done and potential improvements.
A lively activity can help people look at familiar work from a different angle, but there is no established evidence here that one template is objectively more fun or more effective than another. Pick a format that suits the team, then see whether it helps surface useful observations.
How to choose a format
- Generate practical changes: Use Start/Stop/Continue.
- Broaden the reflection: Try 4Ls.
- Discuss reactions: Use Mad/Sad/Glad, with anonymous input if people would find open sharing uncomfortable.
- Map momentum, blockers and risks: Choose Sailboat.
- Investigate a problem: Try Five Whys.
- Move from an event to a response: Use What/So What/Now What.
- Reflect on workload: Try Energy Levels.
- Choose among many ideas: Use Dot Voting.
Also consider the time available, how comfortable the team is with open discussion, and whether participants share a physical room or a digital workspace. These are practical selection criteria, not a tested ranking.
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18 fun retrospective templates
Action and improvement
1. Start, Stop, Continue
Ask what the team should start doing, stop doing and continue doing. Invite people to add notes under each prompt, then discuss and choose a specific behavior to try. This format is useful when the team wants to turn reflection into actions quickly.
2. One small experiment
Ask each person to suggest one small change the team could test in its next Sprint. Discuss the suggestions and agree on an owner or a clear way to check whether the change happened. Keep the experiment narrow enough to revisit at the next retrospective.
3. Keep, Change, Try
Collect practices the team wants to keep, change or try. “Keep” captures what is worth protecting, “change” names a practice that is not working as intended, and “try” makes room for a new experiment. Group related notes before choosing a next step.
4. What would make next Sprint easier?
Have participants name one thing that would make the next Sprint easier or smoother. Compare responses, identify a shared theme and turn it into an improvement the team can act on.
Reflective and emotional
5. 4Ls
Ask what people Liked, Learned, Lacked and Longed for during the Sprint. The categories invite positive observations, learning and unmet needs. Some versions replace one category with “Loathed,” so explain the wording before people contribute.
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6. Mad, Sad, Glad
Invite the team to name what made them mad, sad or glad. The prompts make emotional reactions discussable alongside practical events. If people are not comfortable sharing openly, collect input anonymously before discussing themes.
7. High, Low, Hope
Ask each person to share a high point, a low point and one hope for the next Sprint. This simple sequence balances what went well with what was difficult and gives the conversation a forward-looking prompt.
8. Appreciation round
Invite participants to recognize a helpful action or contribution from a teammate during the Sprint. Keep the focus on specific behaviors, then move to the team’s improvement topics so appreciation does not replace discussion of problems.
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Visual, narrative and forward-looking
9. Sailboat
Draw a boat heading toward an island or destination. Ask the team to add wind for what propels progress, anchors for what holds it back and rocks for risks ahead. Group similar notes, check that the groupings reflect participants’ meaning, then vote on important themes and develop an outcome.
10. The Sprint as a journey
Ask participants to describe the Sprint as a journey: where the team made progress, where it got stuck and what helped it move forward. Record the concrete events behind each description, then identify a change that could improve the next leg.
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11. Weather report
Ask each person to describe the Sprint’s “weather”—for example, clear skies, cloudy patches or a storm—and explain what work event the image represents. Treat the metaphor as an opening prompt, not a substitute for identifying the actual conditions behind it.
12. Timeline rewind
Sketch a timeline of the Sprint and ask people to add moments that affected the work: a decision, blocker, release or change in direction. Discuss why those moments mattered and which are within the team’s influence to improve.
Root cause and learning
13. Five Whys
Start with a specific problem and ask “why?” repeatedly to explore what contributed to it. Atlassian presents five prompts as a guide; not every issue has exactly five causal layers. Stop when the team has identified a useful, actionable cause rather than forcing the count.
14. What, So What, Now What
Move through three questions: What happened? So what was its impact? Now what should the team do next? The sequence helps keep a discussion connected to an event, its consequence and a potential response.
15. Learning review
Ask what the team expected, what actually happened and what it learned from the difference. Use a specific example from the Sprint, then decide whether the learning calls for a change to planning, collaboration or another working practice.
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Workload and prioritization
16. Energy Levels
Sort work into what energized people, what drained them and how they feel about the upcoming Sprint. Look for patterns in the work rather than treating individual reactions as a performance score.
17. Team temperature check
Ask participants to rate how the Sprint felt using a simple scale or visual marker, then invite them to explain what shaped their response. Use the discussion to uncover a concrete source of strain or momentum, rather than treating the rating alone as the result.
18. Dot Voting
After the team has generated improvement ideas, give participants dots or digital votes to mark the ideas they want prioritized. Discuss the highest-priority themes and agree what to act on; voting narrows the list but does not decide the action by itself.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to run the session and leave with an action
- Set up the space. In person, use a whiteboard and sticky notes. For a remote team, use a shared digital whiteboard or online template so everyone can contribute.
- Make room for input. Give participants time to add their observations before the group discusses them. A basic structure is three areas: what went well, what did not go well and what could improve.
- Discuss and clarify. Ask what each note means, group related observations and check the groupings with participants rather than assuming similar wording means the same thing.
- Choose improvements. Order the ideas and agree on one or two improvements for the next Sprint. Scrum.org recommends making suggestions visible in the Sprint Backlog so they remain part of the team’s work.
- Follow up. At the next retrospective, check whether the improvement was tried and what the team learned. A template without follow-through is only a conversation format.
Scrum.org’s example flow uses a whiteboard and sticky notes and includes discussion, agreement, ordering and selection of improvements: How to Facilitate a Sprint Retrospective. Facilitation need not always fall to the Scrum Master; team members can take turns facilitating.
How long should a retrospective take?
There is no single duration that applies to every team or meeting. Scrum.org lists a three-hour timebox for a one-month Sprint in its Sprint Retrospective at a Glance. Atlassian gives a range of 45 minutes to three hours depending on Sprint duration and recommends enough time for meaningful conversation in its retrospective play. Treat these as context-specific guidance, not a universal rule; allow time to discuss themes and choose improvements, not just complete the activity.
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