Retro format 25 of 27
Hopes and Concerns retrospective
Everyone shares what they hope for and what worries them about a new team or project.
- 30–50 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
The first retro of a new team, or the kick-off of a project. It surfaces worries early and sets working agreements.
Also called: Hopes and fears
Facilitator tip
Read concerns without answering them. Fixing too early stops the next person sharing theirs.
The Hopes and Concerns board, drawn out.
3 areas: Hopes, Concerns, Working agreements. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Hopes
Ship small and often
2Concerns
Too many stakeholders on one board
3Working agreements
Reviews within one working day
How to run a Hopes and Concerns retrospective.
About 50 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
Write silently
7 min
Everyone writes hopes and concerns.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Each person reads theirs. Listen, don't fix yet.
- 4
Turn concerns into agreements
13 min
For the top concerns: what working agreement would address it? Code review times, meeting-free days, how we hand over when someone is out.
- 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.
- What do you hope this team will be good at?
- What worries you?
- What did your last team do that you want here?
- How should we cover for each other when someone is out?
Your Hopes and Concerns 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
- 0:05–0:12Write silently · 7 min
- 0:12–0:22Read out · 10 min
- 0:22–0:35Turn concerns into agreements · 13 min
- 0:35–0:45Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:45–0:50Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Hopes and Concerns
Length: 50 min
Everyone shares what they hope for and what worries them about a new team or project. The first retro of a new team, or the kick-off of a project. It surfaces worries early and sets working agreements.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:12 | Write silently | 7 |
| 0:12–0:22 | Read out | 10 |
| 0:22–0:35 | Turn concerns into agreements | 13 |
| 0:35–0:45 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:45–0:50 | 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.
- Write silently (7 min). Everyone writes hopes and concerns.
- Read out (10 min). Each person reads theirs. Listen, don't fix yet.
- Turn concerns into agreements (13 min). For the top concerns: what working agreement would address it? Code review times, meeting-free days, how we hand over when someone is out.
- 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.
Board
- Hopes
- Concerns
- Working agreements
Prompts
- What do you hope this team will be good at?
- What worries you?
- What did your last team do that you want here?
- How should we cover for each other when someone is out?
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.
- 01
Start Stop Continue
- 30–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 12
Rose Thorn Bud
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 18
Team Radar
- 30–50 min
- 2 to 20
- Great 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.
Hopes and Concerns retrospective questions
What is a Hopes and Concerns retrospective?
Everyone shares what they hope for and what worries them about a new team or project. The first retro of a new team, or the kick-off of a project. It surfaces worries early and sets working agreements.
How long does a Hopes and Concerns retro take?
30 minutes at the shortest, and about 50 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Hopes and Concerns remotely?
Yes, it works well on a video call. Set up the board on a shared whiteboard before the call, give everyone silent writing time with cameras optional, and use anonymous dot-voting.
What goes on a Hopes and Concerns board?
3 areas: Hopes, Concerns, Working agreements. For example, from a software team: Hopes: “Ship small and often”; Concerns: “Too many stakeholders on one board”; Working agreements: “Reviews within one working day”.
What team size is Hopes and Concerns for?
2 to 20 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 Hopes and Concerns?
Start Stop Continue, Rose Thorn Bud, Team Radar. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.