Template library
Retrospective templates that don't end at the board
Retrospective templates give a retro its structure: the columns, the prompts, the shape of the conversation. Below are the formats teams actually use, each with prompts, facilitation notes, and the failure modes to watch for. The format gets the discussion started — what matters is that actions leave the meeting with owners.
The templates
Start / Stop / Continue
The workhorse three-column format. Fast to run, easy to act on — the default when you're not sure which to pick.
Turn feedback into owned follow-through →
Mad / Sad / Glad
Emotion-first framing that surfaces how the sprint felt. Best when morale is the signal worth reading.
Move emotion into signal and action →
Starfish
Five zones — keep, more of, less of, start, stop — for when plain start/stop flattens the nuance.
Convert patterns into next-cycle learning →
Sailboat
Wind, anchors, rocks, island: a metaphor for momentum, drag, risks, and the goal your team is sailing toward.
Connect blockers, anchors, and follow-through →
Which template should you use?
Rotate when retros start feeling scripted, not every sprint. Start / Stop / Continue for speed; Mad / Sad / Glad after a rough cycle; Starfish when you need gradations; Sailboat when the team responds to a shared picture. Every one of them fails the same way: decisions without owners. Pick any format — then protect the last fifteen minutes for assigning and reviewing actions.
Run any of these in SmartRetro
Every template above is built into the retrospective tool — with the part templates can't do on their own: action items that keep their owners, statuses that carry into the next retro, and repeat themes that arrive labeled with their history.