Are you looking for the best retrospective methods? - Then you’ve come to the right place, because we have a lot of them that we want to introduce to you in this article.

I have put together more than 20 retrospective methods that you can use as inspiration or try out for yourself if you are interested.

In addition to classic retrospective methods such as the “Keep Stop Start” method or the “Mad Sad Glad” retrospective, I have also listed novel retrospectives that you certainly don’t know. These fun methods include, for example, the Tetris Retro, the Five Agile Values Retro or the Retro of the Four Seasons.

Let’s take a quick look at what characterizes a successful retrospective method and then dive straight into the examples:

What makes great retro methods?

Retrospective method Definition: Retrospective literally means “review”. In agile methodology, this means looking back at and analysing a team’s past work period.

It is easier to say that you review what has happened and learn from your mistakes and successes.
No wonder, then, that one of the first and most popular retrospective methods is the “What went well” retrospective, which asks the three simple questions:

• What went well?
• What went not so well?
• How can we improve?

This is one of the simplest and most effective retrospective methods available today.
Good retrospective methods are therefore characterised by the fact that they offer a framework of questions that aim to learn from the work of the past few weeks. However, this can go far beyond the simple “What Went Well” method:

• You can take a more playful approach: The sailboat retrospective
• You can expand the questions: The starfish method
• Or you can shed light on more specific aspects of the work: The battery Retro

You will realize how diverse retrospectives can be when we take a closer look at the different methods.

However, a first-class retrospective involves much more than just a valuable retro method. That’s why I’ve put together a few articles here to help you deepen your knowledge:

• An entry guide for retrospectives.
• How to define valuable “measures”.
• Our full retrospective agenda.
• “Psychological safety” for agile teams.
• The best retro check-ins for any situation.

And now let’s get started with the retrospective methods…

9 Fun retrospective techniques - the classics

Let’s start with the “best” retro techniques from the agile world - or at least the 9 most common:

The “What Went Well” retrospective is the most used retro technique in our tool. It is simple and effective:

The “Mad Sad Glad” retrospective technique has a similar pattern, but places more emphasis on considering the emotions of the individual team members.

The “Start Stop Keep” retrospective technique is also known as the “Start Stop Continue” retrospective. I highly recommend making it a “Keep Stop Start” retro (pay attention to the order). This is how you start the retro with something positive. This has proven to be a good start:

The 4 L’s stand for “Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for”.
Rumor has it that people disagree on whether it’s called the 4L retrospective or the 4L’s retrospective:

The sailboat retrospective technique is one of the most popular symbolic retrospective techniques out there. I suppose it’s because of the adventure that comes with a boat trip:

DAKI stands for “Drop Add Keep Improve”. A popular retro that, in addition to the KALM retro (Keep, Add, Less, More), represents a simple acronym.
(Want to take a look at its twin, the KALM Retro? The KALM Retro with examples )

A retro technique based on a fable. Here, the three little pigs build different shelters to protect themselves from the evil wolf. How stable are your performances?

With its 5 questions, the starfish retro technique tends to take a little longer than other retrospective formats. It is ideal for small teams:

An agile retrospective technique that focuses entirely on appreciation:

Echometer Originals

Fun retrospective techniques your team has never seen before…

These were the most popular retro techniques and samples from the agile world. But who always wants to hold the same retro?
Therefore, here are some more retrospectives that you certainly don’t know. The “Echometer Originals”:

What used to be cartoons are now MEMEs. And with the birth of MEMEs, MEME faces were also born:

Not happy with your team’s velocity? Then head to the race track and see what you can get out of it. This time it’s both a “futurespective” and a retrospective:

Are you longing for a level-up? Then you could look at everything more like a game: With each level (sprint), things get more difficult. But the character (our team) also develops its strengths in order to master the challenges:

Still missing a puzzle piece for success? Tetris is a challenging arcade game with the aim of puzzling under pressure, so to speak. Sounds similar to work? It kind of is. The corresponding retrospective technique:

Echometer Originals

Work-Life Balance Retrospectives Samples

Hard work is not everything. This is exactly what you can express with his retrospective techniques.
How about a relaxed round around the campfire or an escape room as a team-building activity?

You can relax around the campfire and let your mind wander.
But a fire in the office is not a good idea! But that’s exactly why we developed the Campfire Retrospective:

Sometimes work is like a theater. There is so much drama! But what role did we play in it?

Escape rooms are a popular team building measure for a reason. They have just the right balance of “pressure” and “fun”.
So if the team feels as if it is somehow stuck, it is worth breaking out of its own situation. Just like in an escape game.

Retrospective method #17

17. The surfer retro 🏄🏽‍♀️ 🌊

When you think of surfing, you quickly think of Hawaii, sun and flow.
But did you know that mankind’s greatest achievements have all happened in a state of flow? Time to retrace it:

How can you ensure that your work becomes a masterpiece? Let’s just ask one of the greatest artists of our time:

Echometer Originals

A Retrospective For Every Season!

Spring, summer, fall, winter. There are not only the right clothes for different seasons and weather, but also the right retrospective techniques:

A new season is dawning and definitely one of the better ones. The days are getting longer and you can slowly leave your jacket at home. In the best case, your team will flourish like the plants in front of the windows. - Find out with these retro questions:

At its best, a sprint feels like what you imagine summer to be like. There’s a positive vibe, the trees are blooming magnificently, everything is working smoothly. Nevertheless, there are some things that can make us sweat:

After summer inevitably comes autumn. A time of change, but also of new beginnings and gratitude. It’s best to make sure you’re prepared for all eventualities early on.

Winter can be a long, hard and cold time. Or it can be a time of coziness and winter sports. Thus, it offers a lot of potential for creative questions that help you reflect on your agile sprint.

Echometer Originals

How is your team doing?
Find out with Health-Check Retros!

One of the most important indicators of good performance in a team is team satisfaction. This is precisely why it makes sense to regularly check well-being in addition to project progress:

The Spotify Health Check (based on the Spotify model) is one of the classics when it comes to frameworks to scale agile. The nice thing about it: The Spotify Health Check Retrospective can be carried out in tribes (several teams) as well as in individual teams.

Note: This retrospective format asks for agreement with the given Health Check items on a scale.

• Speed: We get stuff done really quickly. No waiting, no delays.
• Tech Quality: We’re proud of the quality of our code! It is clean, easy to read, and has great test coverage.
• Learning: We’re learning lots of interesting stuff all the time!
• Mission: We know exactly why we are here, and we are really excited about it.
• Other items (customizable)

The agile values and principles belong to the basics of a Scrum course. Only when you live up to them, you can reach higher agile maturity levels reach. This health check helps you to reflect on the 5 agile Scrum values from a different perspective with your team and to make them measurable - see below for an insight.

Note: This retrospective format asks for agreement with the given Health Check items on a scale.

• Courage: We value people showing courage.
• Respect: We value each other’s ideas, even when disagreeing.
• Commitment: Every team member is committed to follow through on what they have promised.
• Focus: We don’t allow ourselves to be distracted from reaching the sprint goal.
• Openness: We are open to constructive feedback and grow from it.

Echometer Originals

7 Performance retrospective methods

Many retrospective methods are variations of the “What went well” retrospective. But even if these variations create a feeling of variety and demonstrably increase engagement, they bring few new insights. That’s exactly why we’ve developed retrospectives that fix this problem.

Due to the massive cost savings that many companies are currently making, the topic of “Agile Delivery” is becoming increasingly important. Use this retro to check how your team is positioned in this regard.

If you want to find out more about this trending topic, take a look at this article: Increase your agility in 2024

The current challenges require exceptional teamwork. Check whether your team is pulling together with this retro:

Especially in tough times, low-conflict collaboration is crucial. But for this to happen, everyone must dare to talk about points of friction before they get out of hand. Having the security in the team to be able to express yourself at all times is also known as “psychological safety”. See how things are with you on this topic:

Difficult times also put a strain on personal batteries. It is particularly important now to keep an eye on the team’s energy levels:

In rapidly changing environments, you should not only reflect on what has happened, but also dare to look into the unknown. How do you want to act in the future?

The days of an abundance of money are over. This often results in new bottlenecks to which work must adapt:

What options are there for eliminating this one bottleneck?

In this retrospective, you and your team can analyze exactly how well the OKRs have been defined and implemented:

Echometer Originals

Something different for a change? - Crazy retro templates!

Not everything has to be taken seriously:

What would you do in the event of an alien invasion? Probably it will never happen, but it is almost certain that other unforeseen things will happen. With this you can prepare your team top.

Clear the ring for the most varied retro, which also takes place in a tent:

Retrospective Examples & Samples - Conclusion

With all these retrospective samples and examples, you’re sure to find the right sample for your next retro. If not, we have even more in our retro board software tool Echometer.

Retrospective Templates: Some Final Notes

If you have any more retrospective examples or ideas for an agile retrospective template or would like to give us feedback… - just write to us.

And if you’re looking for a free online retro board software for retrospectives, you may have seen that Echometer is just that. Have fun trying out the different retro templates in our tool 😄