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Retrospective format wheel
Twelve tried-and-tested retrospective formats. Spin one when your team’s retros start to feel like the same conversation every two weeks.
SpacespinCtrl+Enterspin while typingFfull screen
One entry per line. Add *3 after a name to give it three times the chance.
Winners show up here, newest first.
Colors
Ready-made list. Edit it to make it yours: changes stay on this device, and Reset brings the original back.Open in the main spinner →
The formats and their prompts
| Format | Prompts | Good when |
|---|---|---|
| Start, Stop, Continue | Start doing, stop doing, keep doing | You want clear actions fast |
| 4Ls | Liked, learned, lacked, longed for | A project or release just ended |
| Mad, Sad, Glad | How the sprint felt | Morale is the real topic |
| Sailboat | Wind (helps), anchors (slows), rocks (risks), island (goal) | You need to look ahead too |
| Starfish | Keep doing, more of, less of, stop doing, start doing | Things are fine but could be better |
| Rose, Thorn, Bud | A highlight, a problem, an opportunity | You have 20 minutes |
| KALM | Keep, add, more, less | Fine-tuning a process that works |
| DAKI | Drop, add, keep, improve | Cutting work nobody needs |
| Plus / Delta | What worked, what to change | Very short retros and workshops |
| Timeline | Events plotted across the sprint, with highs and lows | A long or eventful stretch |
| Lean Coffee | Topics everyone suggests, then votes on | The team should set the agenda |
| One word retro | One word for the sprint each, then why | A 10-minute check or warm-up |
How to run a 45-minute retro
- Set the stage (5 min): restate the goal, and the ground rule that everyone did the best they could with what they knew at the time (the idea behind Norm Kerth’s Prime Directive). Spin the format now, live, in full screen.
- Gather data (10 min): everyone writes sticky notes silently under the format’s prompts. Writing first stops the loudest person from framing the discussion.
- Generate insights (15 min): group similar notes, then dot-vote. Three votes each is plenty.
- Decide what to do (10 min): take the top one or two themes and agree on one to three actions, each with an owner.
- Close (5 min): a one-word check-out, or ask everyone to rate how useful the retro was from 1 to 5.
These five stages come from Esther Derby and Diana Larsen’s book “Agile Retrospectives”, and they work with every format on the wheel.
Keep the wheel fresh
- No repeats: after each retro, click Remove on the winner card. You get through all twelve before any comes back.
- Weight the favorites: if your team loves Sailboat, write “Sailboat *2”.
- Add your own: themed formats such as a weather report or a movie poster work well; add them as new lines.
- Check in first: after a hard sprint, one spin each on the feelings wheel makes a gentle opener.
Questions and answers
Which retro format is best for a new team?
Start, Stop, Continue or Plus / Delta. The prompts need no explanation and they lead straight to actions. Save Mad, Sad, Glad for teams with some trust, because it asks people to name feelings in front of colleagues.
How often should we change the format?
Every retro or every other one. What people say matters more than the format, but new prompts make the team look at the sprint from a different side. If one format keeps producing good actions, bring it back often.
Do these formats work for remote retros?
All of them do. Use a shared online whiteboard with one area per prompt, and do the silent writing with cameras on or off. Spin on the shared screen so the format reveal is part of the opening.