Retro format 02 of 27
Mad Sad Glad retrospective
Sort the sprint by how it felt: what made people mad, sad and glad.
- 30–60 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
A sprint with friction or frustration that nobody has said out loud. Feelings first, then causes.
Also called: Glad sad mad
Facilitator tip
Write events, not names. “Scope changed on day 6” starts a conversation; a name ends it.
The Mad Sad Glad board, drawn out.
3 areas: Mad, Sad, Glad. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Mad
Scope changed on day 6 with no warning
2Sad
We dropped the dark mode story again
3Glad
Zero rollbacks on the billing release
How to run a Mad Sad Glad retrospective.
About 60 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 what made them mad, sad and glad this sprint. Events and situations, not people.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Read glad notes first so the room starts warm, then sad, then mad.
- 4
Group and dot-vote
5 min
Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- 5
Discuss mad and sad clusters
18 min
For each top cluster ask: what happened, what did it cost us, and what could we change?
- 6
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.
- 7
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 made you mad: a blocked PR, a surprise priority change, a flaky test?
- What made you sad: something we dropped, a missed deadline, a teammate leaving?
- What made you glad: a clean release, a good pairing session, help from another team?
- When did you feel most frustrated this sprint, and what was going on?
Your Mad Sad Glad 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
- 0:22–0:27Group and dot-vote · 5 min
- 0:27–0:45Discuss mad and sad clusters · 18 min
- 0:45–0:55Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:55–1:00Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Mad, Sad, Glad
Length: 60 min
Sort the sprint by how it felt: what made people mad, sad and glad. A sprint with friction or frustration that nobody has said out loud. Feelings first, then causes.
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 |
| 0:22–0:27 | Group and dot-vote | 5 |
| 0:27–0:45 | Discuss mad and sad clusters | 18 |
| 0:45–0:55 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:55–1:00 | 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 what made them mad, sad and glad this sprint. Events and situations, not people.
- Read out (10 min). Read glad notes first so the room starts warm, then sad, then mad.
- Group and dot-vote (5 min). Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- Discuss mad and sad clusters (18 min). For each top cluster ask: what happened, what did it cost us, and what could we change?
- 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
- Mad
- Sad
- Glad
Prompts
- What made you mad: a blocked PR, a surprise priority change, a flaky test?
- What made you sad: something we dropped, a missed deadline, a teammate leaving?
- What made you glad: a clean release, a good pairing session, help from another team?
- When did you feel most frustrated this sprint, and what was going on?
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.
- 03
4Ls
- 45–65 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 01
Start Stop Continue
- 30–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 06
KALM
- 30–55 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.
Mad Sad Glad retrospective questions
What is a Mad Sad Glad retrospective?
Sort the sprint by how it felt: what made people mad, sad and glad. A sprint with friction or frustration that nobody has said out loud. Feelings first, then causes.
How long does a Mad Sad Glad retro take?
30 minutes at the shortest, and about 60 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Mad Sad Glad 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 Mad Sad Glad board?
3 areas: Mad, Sad, Glad. For example, from a software team: Mad: “Scope changed on day 6 with no warning”; Sad: “We dropped the dark mode story again”; Glad: “Zero rollbacks on the billing release”.
What team size is Mad Sad Glad 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 Mad Sad Glad?
4Ls, Start Stop Continue, KALM. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.