What are the best sprint retrospective techniques, ideas, formats & templates?
You can find the best “all-rounder” templates, techniques and ideas for agile sprint retrospectives in the following table. I have categorized them according to my personal score, based on my years of experience as a Scrum Master and psychologist.
Above you can see 6 popular Scrum retrospective templates and formats, which I give either 1 (Low), 2 (Medium) or 3 (High) points - the more points, the better the retrospective template.
| “What went well” Retro | Glad / Sad / Mad Retro | 4L-Retro | Sailboat Retro | Retro battery | Spotify Health Check Retro | |
| Commitment factor | ❌ 1 (Low) | 👍2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (High) | ✅ 3 (High) | ✅ 3 (High) |
| Creativity & novelty | ❌ 1 (Low) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (High) | ✅ 3 (High) |
| Probability of good measures | 👍2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (High) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (High) |
| Probability of new insights | ❌ 1 (Low) | ❌ 1 (Low) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (High) | ✅ 3 (High) |
| Simplicity of moderation | ✅ 3 (High) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (High) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) |
| Assuming psychological safety | ✅ 3 (No) | 👍 2 (Medium) | ✅ 3 (No) | ✅ 3 (No) | 👍 2 (Medium) | 👍 2 (Medium) |
| Flexible use | ✅ 3 (Very flexible) | ✅ 3 (Very flexible) | ✅ 3 (Very flexible) | 👍 2 (openness of the team required) | ✅ 3 (Very flexible) | 👍 2 (Agiles teams suitable) |
| Remote and co-located in the office? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Optimal team size | Small to large teams | Small to large teams | Small to medium-sized teams | Small to medium-sized teams | Small to large teams | Small to large teams, especially for smaller |
| Recommended software tool | Echometer | Echometer | Echometer | Echometer | Echometer | Echometer |
| Overall rating | 7/14 | 7/14 | ✅ 11/14 | 9/14 | ✅ 11/14 | ✅ 11/14 |
In summary, there are three winners in my ranking: In particular, the 4L Retrospective, the Battery Retrospective from Echometer and the Spotify Health Check Retrospective are super all-rounders and perhaps the best retrospective formats for your team. They are very likely to be successful in your team - whether it’s agile, organized according to Scrum, Kanban or Waterfall.
The best retrospective templates, techniques and formats
The following templates, ideas, formats and techniques are very suitable for conducting agile sprint retrospectives in your team, regardless of whether they work together remotely, virtually or on site.
Template or retrospective technique 1: “What went well”
Open questions
A typical retrospective technique or template for agile teams - whether Scrum or not - is the “What went well” retrospective.
- Where can I find the Retrospective template? In the Retrospective Tool Echometer
- Why does the template work? The typical questions of a retrospective are asked directly - not much can go wrong.
| Retrospective Questions | What 3 things have been going particularly well lately? | Which 3 things have not gone so well recently? | What else would you like to talk about in this retrospective? |
| Sample answer | Finally reached the sprint finish twice in a row | Scrum process pretty much ignored - but is that really so bad? | The team event was great fun, thanks for organizing it! |
Template or retrospective technique 2: Glad, Sad, Mad Retrospective
Open questions
A typical retrospective technique or template for agile teams - whether Scrum or not - is the “Glad Sad Mad” retrospective.
- Where can I find the Retrospective template? In the Retrospective Tool Echometer
- Why does the template work? The simple emotions make it easier to recall certain situations from the last Scrum Sprint.
| Retrospective Questions | Mad: What has driven you crazy or excited you in the last few weeks? | Sad: What has made you sad in the last few weeks? | Glad: What have you enjoyed in the last few weeks? |
| Sample answer | Not finding the cause of the bug was super annoying | It’s a shame that Chris is leaving our team | We delivered our increment on time and the customer was happy - it doesn’t get any better than that |
Template or retrospective technique 3: 4L retrospective
Open questions
A typical retrospective technique or template for agile teams - whether Scrum or not - is the “4L” retrospective.
- Where can I find the Retrospective template? In the Retrospective Tool Echometer
- Why does the template work? The four letters or words make it very easy to reflect constructively on the last Scrum Sprint.
| Retrospective Questions | Learned: What have you learned recently? | Loved: What did you really enjoy? | Longed for: What would you have needed recently to be able to work better? | Lacked: What did you lack? |
| Sample answer | I really like Kotlin as a language | Attending the sales meeting was very helpful to see! | Better communication with Max would have been necessary | I would like more frequent feedback on my tasks |
Template or retrospective technique 4: Sailboat retrospective
Open questions
A good retrospective technique or template for agile teams - whether Scrum or not - is the “Sailboat” retrospective.
- Where can I find the Retrospective template? In the Retrospective Tool Echometer
- Why does the format work well? The sailboat metaphor is easy for everyone to understand and promotes creativity - more feedback means more opportunities for improvement in the retro.
| Retrospective Questions | ⛵️ Let’s imagine we are a sailing boat. ⚓️ Our anchor: What is holding us up or back? | 🦈🧊 Our shark/iceberg: what dangers or obstacles do we face? | 💨 Our tailwind: what gives us drive? | 🏝💰 Our treasure island: What success stories and milestones are coming up? |
| Sample answer | We urgently need an additional software developer | In the next sprint we will probably have fewer opportunities because Max and Miriam are on vacation | Pair programming has really brought us further in communication | If we have achieved the current increment, we can be proud. |
Template or retrospective technique 5: Battery retrospective
One of the best retrospective techniques or templates for agile teams is the battery retrospective.
- Where can I find the Retrospective template? In the Retrospective Tool Echometer
- Why does the template work? The battery metaphor should resonate very well with every team member.
| Retrospective Questions | How full is your personal battery as a percentage right now? | What has drained your battery recently? | What has recharged your battery recently? | What would help you to save energy over the next few weeks? |
| Sample answer | 70%: Working on the same task for too long | Rather negative feedback from our customer | Team event was great fun | Let’s only do the Daily three times a week |
Template or retrospective format 6: Spotify Health Check
Health Check Questions (Scale)
One of the best retrospective techniques and templates for agile, Scrum and Kanban teams is the Spotify Health Check retrospective.
- Where can I find the Retrospective template? In the Retrospective Tool Echometer
- Why does the template work? The Spotify Health Check highlights 11 variables so that each team will identify ideas for improvement and team members will actively vote.
| Retrospective Questions | We enjoy going to work and have a lot of fun working together. | We always get great support and help when we ask for it! | We are a great team that works well together. | We are constantly learning lots of interesting things! |
| Sample answer | Agree, because we regularly organize team events | Agree more, could be better: No help when I was familiarizing myself with the new framework | I agree, because the meetings clarify many things. Maybe they could be even more effective? | I tend to disagree because I have always worked on the same task recently |
By the way, here is a more in-depth video with a ranking of what I consider to be the best formats, templates, ideas and techniques for retrospectives in remote and co-located teams.
FAQs: Frequently asked questions
Here are some frequently asked questions in this context.
Where can I find good templates and techniques for agile retrospectives?
There are many websites that suggest good templates and techniques for agile retrospectives. For example, Retromat.org and the retrospective software tool Echometer can be found at this link (without login): https://my.echometerapp.com/retro-setup
Which websites offer free questions and ideas for agile sprint retrospectives?
As far as I know, there is no website that charges money for the retrospective ideas and questions themselves. At most, books with corresponding lists cost money.
Retromat.org or the retrospective software tool Echometer, for example, offer a great overview of the best retrospective formats and templates (without login): https://my.echometerapp.com/retro-setup
How do I know if a retrospective template is really good for my team?
Good question, which depends heavily on your team. Basically, it is best to look at the criteria according to which the table for evaluating retrospective templates is developed above. The following questions should therefore be answered:
- Does the method lead to measures?
- Does my team feel psychologically confident enough to answer the questions?
- Are the questions stimulating and creative?
- Are the questions easy to understand and suitable for my team?
- Do I have a software tool like Echometer with which I can perform this template interactively?
