A retrospective is a fantastic tool for creating an environment where your team is open to feedback and committed to continual improvement. It is a dedicated forum for providing candid feedback, reflecting, and creating goals for the team.

In contrast, if you find that the template is becoming stale and that the same results are being produced repeatedly, it may be time to switch things up. In this post, we’ve prepared a list of 10 retrospective templates that you can use as a starting point for your own.

So, let’s dive right in.

1. Starfish Retrospective

With the use of the Starfish Retrospective, you may determine what each team member gained from a particular project or sprint. It is an excellent method of fostering understanding among team members and gaining an awareness of each other’s priorities.

2. Lessons Learned

The Lessons Learned template provides a clear and systematic mechanism for teams to document lessons learned. It can develop into a valuable project management resource in the future. It lays equal importance on documenting mistakes and successes for them to be repeated for future projects. It encourages optimism and encourages people to be optimistic.

3. Sailboat Retrospective

The sailboat retrospective template takes a somewhat different approach to retrospectives than the other templates available. Its purpose is to assist teams in navigating to their desired destination (the goal). To help uncover hazards that may be impeding development and factors that are assisting them in moving forward, it is conducted before the work is completed.

4. Feedback Grid

If you are conducting product testing, you must keep track of all positive and negative input to ensure that nothing is overlooked. A Feedback Capture Grid is an excellent tool for collecting this feedback in a collaborative online environment. The grid is subdivided into four parts, which are labeled “Likes,” “Criticisms,” “Questions,” and “Ideas,” and maybe quickly filled out with digital sticky notes.

5. Hot Air Balloon Retrospective

The Hot Air Balloon template, like the Sailboat retrospective, is a metaphor that allows teams to think they are floating in a hot air balloon and coping with variables such as winds, weather, and weights. It invites teams to look back on the current sprint and forward at the same time, it can be considered both a retrospective and a futurespective exercise.

6. Rose, Thorn, and Bud

Although the Rose, Thorn, and Bud template should be considered more of a reflective approach, it may be used to recognize and improve what is currently working. In teams of any size, it can be utilized to understand better how individual team members are feeling in the context of the broader group. The findings should assist in the generation of suggestions for possibilities to effect good change.

7. Mad, Sad, and Glad

Mad, Sad, and Glad is another reflective template that has been specifically designed for design thinking. The team is asked to reflect on their emotional responses rather than concentrating on their physical achievements and hurdles. This technique can be very effective when teams feel tired or burned out.

8. 4 L Retrospective

This classic 4L retrospective uses the four L’s to evaluate team performance and make recommendations for improvement. The template is organized into four quadrants, with each quadrant requesting team members to offer ideas related to the following topics:

• What did we enjoy?
• What did we take away from this experience?
• What exactly did we lack?
• What was it that we yearned for?

9. Quick Retrospective

The fast retrospective template best serves quick retrospectives held regularly and is critical for advancement. The following are the four sections of this template:

• What did you think was good?
• What exactly was the problem?
• Do you have any other suggestions?
• Are there any other actions?

10. Start, Stop, and Continue

The Start, Stop, and Continue template is one of the simplest retrospectives available. It is straightforward. The questions are separated into three columns in it, and team members are required to brainstorm activities and tasks in response to them.

• Start: This step is for deciding what the team should do first.
• Stop: What exactly should the team refrain from doing?
• Continue: What should the team’s next course of action be?

Conclusion

Hopefully, these ten templates have inspired you to inject some fun into your next retrospective. They may just be the answer you’re looking for!