Retro format 15 of 27
Five Whys retrospective
Take one problem and ask why it happened, five times, to get past the first answer.
- 45–55 min
- 2 to 10 people
- Works remote
Good for
One clear problem that keeps coming back: a missed sprint goal, a broken release, a bug that escaped.
Also called: 5 whys retrospective
Facilitator tip
If a why lands on a person (“Ana forgot”), ask why the system let it happen and keep going.
The Five Whys board, drawn out.
No columns for this one. Here's what it looks like with a software team.
- 1The release slipped by four days
- 2Why? QA found a blocker on day 9
- 3Why? The flow was only testable end to end
- 4Why? Staging had no data for the new flow
- 5Why? Nobody owns test data
- 6Action: a seed script, owned by Ana, by Sprint 15
How to run a Five Whys retrospective.
About 55 minutes as written. Change the length in the agenda builder below and every step scales with it.
- 1
Check in
5 min
Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- 2
Pick the problem
7 min
List problems from the sprint and vote on one. Write it as a fact: 'The release slipped by four days', not 'QA was slow'.
- 3
Ask why, five times
18 min
In pairs or groups of three, ask why it happened, then why that happened, up to five times. Stop when you reach something the team can change.
- 4
Compare chains
10 min
Each group shares its chain. Where do they agree? Where do they split?
- 5
Agree action items
10 min
Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- 6
Close
5 min
Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Prompts to put on the board.
Read one out when the writing stalls, or paste them next to the columns.
- Why did it happen?
- Why did that happen?
- Why didn't we catch it earlier?
- Is this something we can change, or are we blaming a person?
Your Five Whys agenda, timed to your slot.
Fill in the team and the time. Copy the agenda into Confluence, Notion or Google Docs as formatted text, or grab the Markdown.
Length
- 0:00–0:05Check in · 5 min
- 0:05–0:12Pick the problem · 7 min
- 0:12–0:30Ask why, five times · 18 min
- 0:30–0:40Compare chains · 10 min
- 0:40–0:50Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:50–0:55Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Five Whys
Length: 55 min
Take one problem and ask why it happened, five times, to get past the first answer. One clear problem that keeps coming back: a missed sprint goal, a broken release, a bug that escaped.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:12 | Pick the problem | 7 |
| 0:12–0:30 | Ask why, five times | 18 |
| 0:30–0:40 | Compare chains | 10 |
| 0:40–0:50 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:50–0:55 | Close | 5 |
How to run each step
- Check in (5 min). Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- Pick the problem (7 min). List problems from the sprint and vote on one. Write it as a fact: 'The release slipped by four days', not 'QA was slow'.
- Ask why, five times (18 min). In pairs or groups of three, ask why it happened, then why that happened, up to five times. Stop when you reach something the team can change.
- Compare chains (10 min). Each group shares its chain. Where do they agree? Where do they split?
- Agree action items (10 min). Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- Close (5 min). Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Prompts
- Why did it happen?
- Why did that happen?
- Why didn't we catch it earlier?
- Is this something we can change, or are we blaming a person?
Last retro's action items
| Action | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
Action items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
Copy pastes as formatted text into Google Docs, Notion or Confluence. Markdown is for GitHub, Jira or Slack.
Try next, when this one gets stale.
- 11
Three Little Pigs
- 45–57 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 16
Futurespective
- 45–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 22
Fishbone
- 45–50 min
- 2 to 10
- Works remote
Book the retro on a day the whole team is in.
A retro with two people out hears half the sprint, and its actions have no owners. Forgot shows sprints, holidays and time off on one board, so you can see who's out on retro day before you send the invite.
Five Whys retrospective questions
What is a Five Whys retrospective?
Take one problem and ask why it happened, five times, to get past the first answer. One clear problem that keeps coming back: a missed sprint goal, a broken release, a bug that escaped.
How long does a Five Whys retro take?
45 minutes at the shortest, and about 55 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Five Whys remotely?
Yes, with some prep. Draw the board on a shared whiteboard before the call, and give people a few extra minutes for each step, since it needs more back-and-forth than a column retro.
What team size is Five Whys for?
2 to 10 people. With more people, split into groups for the writing and discussion, then bring the top topics back together.
What can I run instead of Five Whys?
Three Little Pigs, Futurespective, Fishbone. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.