Templates · Team & mood

Appreciation Retro

Sentence starters that take the team from what made it glad to its doubts and disappointments, and end on thanks.

What it is

Five columns, four of them sentences to finish in the first person: what made people glad, what they still wonder about, what was not so great and whom they appreciate. One more column holds the follow-ups. Because every card starts with “I”, the board reads as what people lived through, not as verdicts on the sprint.

Goal

Everyone has said how the sprint was for them and has thanked someone by name. The team’s open questions are on the table, and the disappointments worth acting on have a follow-up with an owner and a date.

When to use it

When the team works well and you want to keep it that way: at the end of a release, a quarter or a long project. It takes a full session, and a group small enough for every card to be read.

When to pick another format

In a tense team, sentences that start with “I appreciate” ring false and the column stays thin; name what is wrong first with Mad, Sad, Glad. With little time, Kudos keeps the thanks and a short review, and Likes, Wishes, Wonders keeps three sentence starters only.

How to run it

1. 😃 I’m glad that… Ask what made each person glad this sprint, however small.
2. 🤔 I’m wondering… Ask for the questions and doubts people carry into the next sprint. Nobody owes the answer yet.
3. 😢 It wasn’t so great that… Ask what disappointed. The card names the problem, not the person.
4. ✅ Action items. Ask for the follow-up people would propose for a disappointment or a doubt they raised.
5. 🙏 I appreciate… Ask for thanks for specific help from specific people.

Once everyone has written, group the cards and spend the votes on the wonderings and the disappointments. Discuss the top ones beside the follow-ups proposed, and record what the team commits to as action items with an owner and a due date. Then read every card of 🙏 I appreciate… aloud: the session ends on that column.

Columns

To start a retrospective from this template, see Create a retro.