Retro format 08 of 27
Timeline retrospective
Rebuild the sprint or release day by day, then mark how each moment felt.
- 60–65 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Works remote
Good for
A long sprint, a messy release or a project with many events, when people remember different parts. It builds a shared story before judging it.
Also called: Sprint timeline retro
Facilitator tip
Pull the commit log, the incident channel and the team calendar before you start. Memory alone misses half the sprint.
The Timeline board, drawn out.
2 areas: Timeline (by day), Energy line. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Timeline (by day)
Day 3: incident pulls two people off the sprint
2Energy line
Energy low on day 6, high after the day 9 release
How to run a Timeline retrospective.
About 65 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
Build the timeline
12 min
Draw a line from the first day to the last. Everyone adds events: merges, deploys, incidents, decisions, people out, scope changes. Use the commit log and the calendar to jog memories.
- 3
Add the energy line
5 min
Each person draws or marks how they felt at each point, high or low.
- 4
Walk the timeline
15 min
Go left to right. Pause at the highs and lows: what happened just before?
- 5
Find patterns
13 min
Look for things that happened more than once, or a low that followed the same kind of event.
- 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 happened on this day that changed the plan?
- Where did work wait the longest?
- When did energy drop, and what happened just before?
- Who was out when things got hard, and did we plan for it?
Your Timeline 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
- 0:05–0:17Build the timeline · 12 min
- 0:17–0:22Add the energy line · 5 min
- 0:22–0:37Walk the timeline · 15 min
- 0:37–0:50Find patterns · 13 min
- 0:50–1:00Agree action items · 10 min
- 1:00–1:05Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Timeline
Length: 65 min
Rebuild the sprint or release day by day, then mark how each moment felt. A long sprint, a messy release or a project with many events, when people remember different parts. It builds a shared story before judging it.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:17 | Build the timeline | 12 |
| 0:17–0:22 | Add the energy line | 5 |
| 0:22–0:37 | Walk the timeline | 15 |
| 0:37–0:50 | Find patterns | 13 |
| 0:50–1:00 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 1:00–1:05 | 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.
- Build the timeline (12 min). Draw a line from the first day to the last. Everyone adds events: merges, deploys, incidents, decisions, people out, scope changes. Use the commit log and the calendar to jog memories.
- Add the energy line (5 min). Each person draws or marks how they felt at each point, high or low.
- Walk the timeline (15 min). Go left to right. Pause at the highs and lows: what happened just before?
- Find patterns (13 min). Look for things that happened more than once, or a low that followed the same kind of event.
- 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
- Timeline (by day)
- Energy line
Prompts
- What happened on this day that changed the plan?
- Where did work wait the longest?
- When did energy drop, and what happened just before?
- Who was out when things got hard, and did we plan for it?
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.
- 21
Six Thinking Hats
- 60–60 min
- 2 to 10
- Works remote
- 03
4Ls
- 45–65 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 04
Sailboat
- 45–60 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.
Timeline retrospective questions
What is a Timeline retrospective?
Rebuild the sprint or release day by day, then mark how each moment felt. A long sprint, a messy release or a project with many events, when people remember different parts. It builds a shared story before judging it.
How long does a Timeline retro take?
60 minutes at the shortest, and about 65 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Timeline 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 goes on a Timeline board?
2 areas: Timeline (by day), Energy line. For example, from a software team: Timeline (by day): “Day 3: incident pulls two people off the sprint”; Energy line: “Energy low on day 6, high after the day 9 release”.
What team size is Timeline 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 Timeline?
Six Thinking Hats, 4Ls, Sailboat. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.