Retro format 20 of 27
What Went Well retrospective
The classic three questions: what went well, what didn't, what to try next sprint.
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
A first retro, a team that wants something plain, or a mixed group with people from outside engineering.
Also called: What went well retro
Facilitator tip
Spend the discussion on Try next. The first two columns are the input, not the output.
The What Went Well board, drawn out.
3 areas: Went well, Didn't go well, Try next. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Went well
Feature flags made the rollout boring
2Didn't go well
Two days lost to a flaky e2e suite
3Try next
Quarantine flaky tests automatically
How to run a What Went Well 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
Write silently
7 min
Everyone writes in the three columns.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Each person reads their notes.
- 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
13 min
Turn the top Didn't go well notes into Try next experiments.
- 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 went well?
- What didn't go well?
- What will we try next sprint?
Your What Went Well 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
- 0:27–0:40Discuss · 13 min
- 0:40–0:50Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:50–0:55Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Went well, Didn't go well, Try next
Length: 55 min
The classic three questions: what went well, what didn't, what to try next sprint. A first retro, a team that wants something plain, or a mixed group with people from outside engineering.
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 |
| 0:27–0:40 | Discuss | 13 |
| 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.
- Write silently (7 min). Everyone writes in the three columns.
- Read out (10 min). Each person reads their notes.
- 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 (13 min). Turn the top Didn't go well notes into Try next experiments.
- 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
- Went well
- Didn't go well
- Try next
Prompts
- What went well?
- What didn't go well?
- What will we try next sprint?
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
- 04
Sailboat
- 45–60 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.
What Went Well retrospective questions
What is a What Went Well retrospective?
The classic three questions: what went well, what didn't, what to try next sprint. A first retro, a team that wants something plain, or a mixed group with people from outside engineering.
How long does a What Went Well retro take?
30 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 What Went Well 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 What Went Well board?
3 areas: Went well, Didn't go well, Try next. For example, from a software team: Went well: “Feature flags made the rollout boring”; Didn't go well: “Two days lost to a flaky e2e suite”; Try next: “Quarantine flaky tests automatically”.
What team size is What Went Well 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 What Went Well?
Start Stop Continue, Sailboat, KALM. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.