Sprint Retrospective Template

---
title: "Sprint Retrospective Template"
methodology: "agile"
complexity: "advanced"
owner: "mirichard"
updated: "2026-09-19"
primary_principles: ["continuous-learning", "collaborative-leadership"]
secondary_principles: ["adaptability"]
principle_rationale: "Creates a safe retrospective discussion of experience and evidence that produces a small set of owned improvement experiments."
---

# Sprint Retrospective Template

## When to Use

- At a team's retrospective when evidence and experience can inform improvements.
- When the team needs a safe discussion and a small set of owned experiments.

## When NOT to Use

- To attribute blame or archive lessons without checking the next action.
- Do not close an improvement solely because it was documented or assigned. See [Lessons archive](../../../../docs/principles/anti-patterns.md#lessons-archive).

## Pairs Well With

- [Daily Standup Template](../../../../domains/team/role-based-toolkits/scrum-master/agile-ceremonies/daily-standup-template.md).
- [Team Charter Template](../../../../domains/team/project-lifecycle/02-planning/resource-planning/team-charter-template.md).

Selection context: Team domain; agile methodology; advanced complexity. Match the situations above to project phase, risk, team size, and industry using the [decision-engine context model](../../../../meta/architecture-research/800-801-context-assessment-model.md).

## Scrum tailoring

These worksheets and suggested agendas are optional practices. In Scrum, the Developers own the plan for delivering the Sprint Goal; selected work is a forecast that can be adapted. A Definition of Ready and story points are optional team practices. Use the product Definition of Done consistently, and treat the Sprint Review as inspection and adaptation rather than a release-approval gate. See the [Scrum Guide](https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html).


## Overview
This template provides a structured approach to conducting effective Sprint Retrospectives, helping teams to continuously improve their processes, collaboration, and overall performance. Sprint Retrospectives are a critical part of the Scrum framework, providing teams with a dedicated time to reflect on their work, identify what went well, what didn't, and create action plans for improvement.

## Table of Contents
- [Meeting Information](#meeting-information)
- [Retrospective Pre-Work](#retrospective-pre-work)
- [Safety Check](#safety-check)
- [Previous Action Items Review](#previous-action-items-review)
- [Retrospective Formats](#retrospective-formats)
- [Team Health Check](#team-health-check)
- [Action Items](#action-items)
- [Continuous Improvement Metrics](#continuous-improvement-metrics)
- [Closing Thoughts](#closing-thoughts)
- [Facilitation Guide](#facilitation-guide)
- [Example Activities and Exercises](#example-activities-and-exercises)

## Meeting Information

**Sprint:** [Sprint Number or Name]  
**Date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]  
**Time:** [HH:MM] - [HH:MM]  
**Location:** [Physical location or virtual meeting link]  
**Facilitator:** [Name of the Scrum Master or designated facilitator]  
**Participants:** [List of team members present]  
**Absent:** [List of team members absent]  

## Retrospective Pre-Work

Before the session begins, consider:

- Reviewing Sprint metrics (velocity, burn-down/up charts, escaped defects, etc.)
- Gathering feedback from stakeholders
- Reviewing previous retrospective action items
- Preparing retrospective format materials
- Setting up collaborative tools (physical or digital)
- Ensuring a comfortable environment for open discussion

## Safety Check

Before diving into retrospective discussions, assess the team's psychological safety level to ensure members feel comfortable sharing their honest thoughts.

### Safety Check Exercise

Ask team members to anonymously rate from 1-5:

1. **I'm afraid to share my opinions openly**
2. **I'm comfortable sharing some thoughts but hold back on sensitive topics**
3. **I'll share my thoughts if asked directly**
4. **I'm comfortable sharing most of my thoughts openly**
5. **I share everything on my mind without fear of consequences**

*Facilitator note: If the average is below 3, consider addressing safety issues before proceeding with the full retrospective.*

### Establishing Ground Rules

- **Be respectful**: Focus on behaviors and outcomes, not people
- **Stay solution-oriented**: Critique is valuable when paired with suggestions
- **Equal voice**: Everyone gets time to speak
- **No blame**: We're here to learn, not assign blame
- **Confidentiality**: Agree how learning is shared without attributing personal comments; follow applicable safeguarding and reporting obligations
- **Assume positive intent**: We're all working toward improvement

## Previous Action Items Review

Review action items from the previous retrospective:

| Action Item | Owner | Status | Comments |
|-------------|-------|--------|----------|
| [Description] | [Name] | [Complete/In Progress/Not Started] | [Comments on progress, roadblocks, or outcomes] |
| [Description] | [Name] | [Complete/In Progress/Not Started] | [Comments on progress, roadblocks, or outcomes] |
| [Description] | [Name] | [Complete/In Progress/Not Started] | [Comments on progress, roadblocks, or outcomes] |

### Effectiveness Assessment

Discuss whether implemented improvements had the desired effect:
- What worked well about our previous action items?
- What didn't work as expected?
- What should we adjust for this sprint's action items?

## Retrospective Formats

Choose one of the following formats based on the team's needs and retrospective goals:

### 1. Start, Stop, Continue

A simple reflection model focusing on actionable behaviors.

**Start**: What should we begin doing that we haven't been doing?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Stop**: What should we stop doing that isn't serving us well?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Continue**: What's working well that we should continue doing?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

### 2. The 4 Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For)

Reflection across multiple dimensions of the sprint experience.

**Liked**: What did you enjoy about this sprint?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Learned**: What new insights did you gain?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Lacked**: What was missing or could have been better?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Longed For**: What did you wish you had during the sprint?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

### 3. Mad, Sad, Glad

An emotion-based approach that helps surface team feelings.

**Mad**: What frustrated or annoyed you during the sprint?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Sad**: What disappointed you during the sprint?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Glad**: What made you happy or proud during the sprint?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

### 4. Sailboat Retrospective

A metaphorical approach where the team is a boat trying to reach an island (goal).

**Wind (Helping forces)**: What's pushing us toward our goal?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Anchor (Holding forces)**: What's holding us back?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Rocks (Risks)**: What risks might we encounter?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Island (Goal)**: What are we trying to achieve?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

### 5. KALM (Keep, Add, Less, More)

A variation on Start/Stop/Continue with more nuance.

**Keep**: What should remain exactly as is?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Add**: What new elements should we introduce?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**Less**: What should we reduce but not eliminate?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

**More**: What existing practices should we emphasize?
- [Team input]
- [Team input]

## Team Health Check

Assess the team's health across various dimensions:

| Dimension | Rating (1-5) | Comments |
|-----------|--------------|----------|
| Teamwork & Collaboration | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Communication | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Technical Practices | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Process Effectiveness | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Work-Life Balance | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Value Delivery | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Stakeholder Satisfaction | [Rating] | [Comments] |
| Continuous Improvement | [Rating] | [Comments] |

*Rating Scale:*
1 = Significant improvement needed
2 = Needs some improvement
3 = Adequate/Satisfactory
4 = Good, with minor improvements possible
5 = Excellent, sustainably high performance

### Health Trends

Track how team health has changed over time:

| Dimension | Current Sprint | Previous Sprint | Trend |
|-----------|---------------|-----------------|-------|
| Teamwork & Collaboration | [Rating] | [Rating] | [↑/↓/→] |
| Communication | [Rating] | [Rating] | [↑/↓/→] |
| [Other dimensions] | [Rating] | [Rating] | [↑/↓/→] |

## Action Items

Capture specific, measurable improvements to implement in the next sprint:

| Action Item | Description | Owner | Due Date | Success Criteria |
|-------------|-------------|-------|----------|------------------|
| [Name] | [Detailed description] | [Owner] | [Date] | [How we'll know it worked] |
| [Name] | [Detailed description] | [Owner] | [Date] | [How we'll know it worked] |
| [Name] | [Detailed description] | [Owner] | [Date] | [How we'll know it worked] |

### SMART Action Items Guidance

Ensure action items follow SMART criteria:
- **Specific**: Clearly defined action
- **Measurable**: Can be verified as done/not done
- **Achievable**: Realistic within team capabilities
- **Relevant**: Addresses an actual team need
- **Time-bound**: Has a clear deadline

### Prioritization

From the action items list, select the top 2-3 most important items to focus on for the next sprint to avoid overwhelming the team.

## Continuous Improvement Metrics

Track key metrics to assess improvement over time:

| Metric | Current Sprint | Previous Sprint | Change | Target |
|--------|---------------|-----------------|--------|--------|
| Velocity | [Value] | [Value] | [Value] | [Value] |
| Sprint Goal Achievement | [%] | [%] | [%] | [%] |
| Escaped Defects | [Count] | [Count] | [Count] | [Count] |
| Team Happiness | [1-5] | [1-5] | [+/-] | [Value] |
| [Custom Metric] | [Value] | [Value] | [Value] | [Value] |

## Closing Thoughts

### Appreciations

Take time for team members to express appreciation for each other's contributions:

- [Name] appreciated [Name] for [specific contribution]
- [Name] appreciated [Name] for [specific contribution]
- ...

### Key Takeaways

Summarize the 3-5 key insights from this retrospective:

1. [Key takeaway]
2. [Key takeaway]
3. [Key takeaway]

## Facilitation Guide

### Preparation Checklist

- [ ] Book appropriate meeting space or virtual room
- [ ] Send calendar invites with clear agenda
- [ ] Prepare materials for chosen retrospective format
- [ ] Review previous retrospective outcomes
- [ ] Ensure tools are working (boards, sticky notes, digital tools)
- [ ] Print or share this template before the meeting

### Time Management

A typical 1-hour retrospective breakdown:
- **5 minutes**: Welcome and ground rules
- **5 minutes**: Safety check
- **10 minutes**: Previous action items review
- **20 minutes**: Main retrospective format
- **10 minutes**: Action item identification and assignment
- **5 minutes**: Team health check
- **5 minutes**: Wrap-up and appreciations

### Facilitation Tips

- Ask open-ended questions
- Use "why" sparingly; prefer "what" and "how" questions
- Ensure balanced participation across the team
- Redirect blame conversations to problem-solving
- Capture action items in real-time
- Consider using a parking lot for off-topic issues
- Rotate facilitation duties to build team ownership
- Keep retrospectives regular, regardless of sprint outcomes

### Remote Retrospective Considerations

- Use collaborative tools (Miro, Mural, Retrium, etc.)
- Have a clear "talking order" to prevent people talking over each other
- Use video when possible to capture non-verbal cues
- Consider async pre-work to maximize synchronous time
- Build in extra time for technology issues
- Use polls and breakout rooms for larger teams

## Example Activities and Exercises

### Lean Coffee

1. Team members write discussion topics on sticky notes
2. Team dots-votes on which topics to discuss
3. Sort topics by vote count
4. Time-box discussion for each topic (e.g., 5 minutes)
5. At time limit, vote whether to continue for 3 more minutes or move on

### Three Little Pigs

Team classifies aspects of the sprint as:
- **Brick House**: Solid, sturdy practices we want to keep
- **Stick House**: Practices that need reinforcement
- **Straw House**: Weak practices that might collapse under pressure

### Speed Boat

Draw a speedboat with:
- **Engine**: What propels us forward?
- **Anchor**: What slows us down?
- **Wind**: What external forces help us?
- **Rocks**: What risks lie ahead?

### Constellation

1. Define dimensions to evaluate (communication, quality, etc.)
2. Create a spectrum for each dimension (e.g., "poor" to "excellent")
3. Team members physically position themselves along each spectrum
4. Discuss the positions and why people placed themselves there
5. Identify improvements based on positions

### Empathy Mapping

For understanding stakeholder or customer perspective:
- **Says**: What did they express verbally?
- **Thinks**: What are their unspoken thoughts?
- **Does**: What actions did they take?
- **Feels**: What emotions might they experience?

---

*This template is meant to be customized for your team's specific needs. Adapt the formats, metrics, and exercises as appropriate for your team size, maturity, and specific challenges.*