Retrospective templates for every agile team
Choose a proven retrospective format, copy the prompts, and run a focused team retro in minutes. These templates work for sprint retrospectives, kanban flow reviews, remote workshops, and leadership teams that need practical action items instead of vague discussion.
Six retrospective formats you can run today
Each format below includes when to use it, a simple facilitation flow, example questions, and a direct link to start the closest matching Retro Harbour board.
Start/Stop/Continue retrospective
A simple three-column retrospective that asks what the team should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing.
When to use it: Use Start/Stop/Continue for new teams, short retros, and sprints where the goal is to leave with clear behavioural changes. It is easy to explain and keeps discussion anchored in action.
Facilitation steps
- Explain the three columns and ask everyone to write silently for 5-7 minutes.
- Group duplicate cards and clarify anything ambiguous without debating yet.
- Vote on the ideas with the highest impact or repeated pain.
- Turn the top one or two cards into owners, next steps, and a review date.
4Ls retrospective: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For
A reflective retro that captures positives, learning, missing support, and what the team wishes had been different.
When to use it: Use 4Ls when you want more depth than a basic sprint retro, especially after a complex delivery, cross-functional project, or remote sprint where quiet signals may have been missed.
Facilitation steps
- Define each L with one example so participants do not overlap categories.
- Give the team silent writing time before discussion to avoid groupthink.
- Read cards one category at a time, then cluster related themes.
- Ask what the team can change now to reduce what was lacking or longed for.
Sailboat retrospective
A visual, goal-oriented template that maps wind helping the team, anchors slowing it down, rocks ahead, and the island destination.
When to use it: Use Sailboat when the team needs a shared picture of progress toward a goal, or when risks and blockers matter as much as what happened in the last sprint.
Facilitation steps
- Start by naming the island: the goal or outcome the team is sailing toward.
- Ask for wind cards: what accelerated progress or gave the team energy.
- Collect anchor and rock cards separately so current blockers and future risks do not blur together.
- Prioritise one anchor to remove and one rock to mitigate before the next retro.
Glad/Sad/Mad retrospective
An emotion-focused format that surfaces morale, frustration, and bright spots without pretending every issue is just a process problem.
When to use it: Use Glad/Sad/Mad after stressful deadlines, incidents, reorganisations, or sprints where the team energy changed noticeably. It is especially useful before jumping into solutions.
Facilitation steps
- Set a safety rule: describe situations and impacts, not personal attacks.
- Let everyone write privately before cards become visible.
- Discuss glad cards first to establish what should be preserved.
- Cluster sad and mad cards, then choose one action that reduces repeated frustration.
DAKI retrospective: Drop, Add, Keep, Improve
A decision-oriented format that helps teams prune low-value habits, add useful practices, keep strengths, and improve weak spots.
When to use it: Use DAKI when the team already knows there are too many ceremonies, tools, or habits competing for attention. It works well for process cleanup and continuous improvement planning.
Facilitation steps
- Ask participants to write concrete behaviours or practices, not broad complaints.
- Review Drop and Keep first to decide what should be removed or protected.
- Use Add and Improve to shape experiments for the next sprint.
- Limit the final action list so the team does not add more work than it drops.
Timeline retrospective
A chronological retrospective that reconstructs what happened across a sprint, launch, or incident so the team can see cause and effect.
When to use it: Use a timeline retrospective after long projects, major releases, incidents, or confusing sprints where the sequence of decisions matters. It helps teams move from scattered memories to a shared narrative.
Facilitation steps
- Create time periods such as planning, build, test, release, and follow-up.
- Have everyone add events, decisions, blockers, and emotional highs or lows.
- Walk the timeline from left to right and connect causes to outcomes.
- Extract the moments where an earlier signal could have changed the result.
How to choose the right retrospective template
| Situation | Use this template | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| New team or first retro | Start/Stop/Continue | Easy categories, fast facilitation, concrete actions. |
| Need deeper reflection | 4Ls | Balances positives, learning, missing support, and future needs. |
| Goal feels unclear or blocked | Sailboat | Makes goals, blockers, and risks visible together. |
| Team morale needs attention | Glad/Sad/Mad | Creates a safe structure for emotion before solutions. |
| Too many process habits | DAKI | Forces decisions about what to drop, add, keep, and improve. |
| Complex project or incident | Timeline retrospective | Shows sequence, cause, effect, and earlier warning signs. |
Retrospective questions and related guides
Templates give the meeting structure; prompts shape the conversation. If you want more question ideas, start with these guides and then open a board when you are ready to run the session.
Ready to run the retro?
Open Retro Harbour, choose a template, share the board link with your team, and move from silent writing to grouping, voting, and action items without asking anyone to create an account.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best retrospective template for a new team?
Start with Start/Stop/Continue or 4Ls. Both are easy to explain, work well online, and give the team enough structure without forcing a complex workshop format.
How many prompts should a retrospective template include?
Use three to five focused prompts for a 45 to 60 minute retrospective. If you collect more cards than the team can discuss, voting and action selection become noisy.
Can I run these retrospective templates online for free?
Yes. Retro Harbour lets you launch free online retrospective boards with real-time collaboration, voting, and Markdown export. No sign-up is required to create a board.