Retrospective templates
Every format below is built into ProstoRetro. Each card shows the columns your team will fill in; open a guide to see how to run it, or start a board with that template straight away.
A retrospective template is a set of questions in disguise. "Start, Stop, Continue" asks what to change;
"Mad, Sad, Glad" asks how people feel; the Sailboat asks where the
team is heading and what stands in the way. Changing the questions every few sprints keeps answers from going
stale and shows the team's work from a new angle.
How to choose:
Whichever you pick, a good retro runs the same way: a warm-up, silent writing, grouping, voting, discussion and a
few action items. Our guide on how to run a great retro walks through each step, and the
list of icebreaker questions has plenty of warm-ups. None of these fit? You can
build your own template with up to five columns.
This isn't just a retro, it's a future-retro! The adventure metaphor helps set interesting goals and solutions
- Island
- Underwater rocks
- Anchors
- Wind in the sails
Simple yet effective tool to reflect on recent experiences and identify what we should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing in order to improve performance
A classic retrospective template for capturing team emotions
Technique that helps teams reflect on recent experiences by dividing them into four categories: what they Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For during the last iteration or project cycle
- Liked
- Learned
- Lacked
- Longed For
A lightweight retrospective template that focuses on outcomes
- What went well
- What didn’t go well
Five-way check to tune behaviors by deciding where to ramp up/down; great when Start/Stop/Continue feels too coarse
- Start
- Stop
- Keep
- More of
- Less of
Simple metaphor to surface positives, challenges, and opportunities; perfect for mixed audiences
Fast, focused continuous-improvement loop; ideal for short sprints or busy teams
“Spring clean” your ways of working; perfect after process bloat or tooling churn
Balanced look at aspirations, hazards, gratitude, and unknowns; great for morale + risk sensing
- Wishes
- Risks
- Appreciations
- Puzzles
Futurespective + retrospective blend; use when you want to connect learnings to forward plans
- Future considerations
- Lessons learned
- Accomplishments
- Problem areas
Builds trust and alignment at kick-off or after a tough sprint by sharing expectations and worries
Lightweight pulse when you want directional tuning rather than deep diagnosis
Sort work by resilience to guide short-, mid-, and long-term fixes
Surfaces the unspoken issue blocking progress; use when tension or avoidance is in the air to align on impact, emotions, and root causes
- The Elephant in the Room
- Impacts
- Feelings
- But why?
Structured feedback flow for work/products; great for demo-heavy teams to keep critique constructive
- Clarify
- Value
- Concerns
- Suggestions
Team exercise to uncover collective strengths and align on focus by mapping activities across four dimensions (love, skill, value, reach) and discussing intersections
- What we love
- What we are good at
- What brings more financial rewards
- What reaches more people
Imagine you have Aladdin's lamp in your hands. Ready to make three wishes?
- I wish for me
- I wish for the team
- I wish for the world
An interesting exercise in expressing emotions and wishes to each other
- I fell in love with
- It broke my heart
- Valentines
