Template
Retrospective template
This retrospective template collects what the team said under three headings (what went well, what didn’t, and what you’ll try next) or in start, stop, continue, mad, sad, glad or the 4Ls, and ends with two or three action items, each with an owner and a date.
Fill it in below and it comes out as a document to share with the team: copy it, or download it as Word, PDF, Markdown or text. It works for a sprint retrospective or for any project, month or quarter.
Retrospective · 6 parts
- 01Last retro’s actions
- 02What went well
- 03What didn’t go well
- 04What to try next
- 05Votes
- 06Action items
Retrospective builder
Pick a format, type the team’s points under each heading with their votes, and add the action items. The retro is written up beside the form as you type, most-voted points first. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
The retrospective
Format and what the team said
Actions from the last retro
New action items
Next retro
Preview
Your retrospective appears here as you type, under the headings of the format you pick, with the action items in a table. Or press Fill in an example.
Copy pastes as plain text into email, Slack, Google Docs or Notion. The Word file opens in Word, Pages and Google Docs.
Record the retro on your Mac and NoteOwl writes the decisions and the action items, each with its owner, from what was said. No bot joins the call.
What should a retrospective include?
Last time’s actions, then what went well, what didn’t and what to try next, with votes to pick the few points that matter, and two or three action items with an owner and a date. Without actions, a retro is only a conversation.
- Last retro’s actions
- What to writeEach action agreed at the last retrospective and whether it happened. Start here, so the team sees that retros change things.
- What went well
- What to writeWhat helped the team in this sprint or period, so you keep doing it. Specific moments beat general praise.
- What didn’t go well
- What to writeWhat slowed the team down or went wrong. Describe the problem, not the person.
- What to try next
- What to writeChanges the team wants to make, written as things it can actually do in the next sprint.
- Votes
- What to writeEach person gets three votes for the points worth acting on. The builder lists the most-voted points first.
- Action items
- What to writeTwo or three changes at most, each with one owner and a due date, checked at the start of the next retro.
| Part | What to write |
|---|---|
| Last retro’s actions | Each action agreed at the last retrospective and whether it happened. Start here, so the team sees that retros change things. |
| What went well | What helped the team in this sprint or period, so you keep doing it. Specific moments beat general praise. |
| What didn’t go well | What slowed the team down or went wrong. Describe the problem, not the person. |
| What to try next | Changes the team wants to make, written as things it can actually do in the next sprint. |
| Votes | Each person gets three votes for the points worth acting on. The builder lists the most-voted points first. |
| Action items | Two or three changes at most, each with one owner and a due date, checked at the start of the next retro. |
A retrospective template to copy
Paste it into Confluence, Notion, Google Docs or a Slack canvas before the retro and fill it in together. It is plain text, so it keeps its shape anywhere.
Give everyone five quiet minutes to write their own points before anyone talks, so the loudest voice doesn’t set the agenda.
RETROSPECTIVE Team: Sprint or period: Date: Facilitator: Attendees: ACTIONS FROM THE LAST RETRO Action | Status (done / in progress / not started / dropped) WHAT WENT WELL - WHAT DIDN'T GO WELL - WHAT WE'LL TRY NEXT - (add votes after each point, like (3)) ACTION ITEMS Action | Owner | Due NEXT RETRO:
Which retrospective format should you use?
Went well, to improve, try next suits most teams. Start, stop, continue is quicker and points straight at changes. Mad, sad, glad brings out how people feel after a hard sprint, and the 4Ls suit the end of a long project.
- Went well, to improve, try next
- HeadingsWhat went well · What didn’t go well · What we’ll try next
- Best forMost sprints; a good default
- Start, stop, continue
- HeadingsStart · Stop · Continue
- Best forA short retro that should end in changes
- Mad, sad, glad
- HeadingsMad · Sad · Glad
- Best forAfter a stressful sprint or an incident, when feelings matter
- 4Ls
- HeadingsLiked · Learned · Lacked · Longed for
- Best forThe end of a project or a quarter
| Format | Headings | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Went well, to improve, try next | What went well · What didn’t go well · What we’ll try next | Most sprints; a good default |
| Start, stop, continue | Start · Stop · Continue | A short retro that should end in changes |
| Mad, sad, glad | Mad · Sad · Glad | After a stressful sprint or an incident, when feelings matter |
| 4Ls | Liked · Learned · Lacked · Longed for | The end of a project or a quarter |
What does a sprint retrospective look like written up?
Like this one from a design studio after two weeks of customer interviews: the last retro’s actions checked first, the points sorted by votes, and three action items with owners and dates. Press Fill in an example to load it into the builder.
INTERVIEW WEEKS RETROSPECTIVE Team: Northlight Studio Date: Friday, October 16, 2026 Facilitator: Nina Park Attendees: Maya Rao, Leo Martins, Nina Park Format: Went well, to improve, try next ACTIONS FROM THE LAST RETRO - Share the interview guide with Priya before booking (Done) - Set up the research board (Done) - Get Grace’s comments on the pilot risk checklist (In progress) WHAT WENT WELL - All twelve interviews booked in four days from Priya’s list (3 votes) - The research board made tagging quick (2 votes) - The midpoint review with Grace had no surprises (2 votes) WHAT DIDN’T GO WELL - Two sessions lost to no-shows on Monday (3 votes) - Notes took a day to write up after each session (2 votes) - The Android test build came late, so early sessions only saw iOS (1 vote) WHAT WE’LL TRY NEXT - Text each participant a reminder on the morning of their session (3 votes) - Write the notes from the session transcript the same day (2 votes) - Ask Marcus for builds a week before we need them (1 vote) ACTION ITEMS - Add a morning reminder text to every pilot session invite (owner: Nina Park, due Oct 23, 2026) - Ask Marcus for the pilot build schedule (owner: Maya Rao, due Oct 20, 2026) - Write up interview notes on the day of each session (owner: Leo Martins, due Oct 23, 2026) NEXT RETRO Friday, October 30, after the findings presentation
How do you run a retrospective?
Check last time’s actions, let everyone write their points in silence, group and vote, discuss the top few, and agree two or three actions with owners. An hour is plenty for a two-week sprint.
- 1
Set the stage
Say which period you’re looking back on, and remind everyone the retro is about the work, not the people.
- 2
Check last time’s actions
Go through each action from the last retro: done, still going, or dropped, and why.
- 3
Write in silence
Give everyone five minutes to write their own points under each heading before anyone speaks.
- 4
Group and vote
Read the points out, merge the duplicates, and give each person three votes for the ones worth acting on.
- 5
Talk about the top points
Start with the most-voted points and look for the cause, not someone to blame.
- 6
Agree the actions
Turn the top two or three into actions with one owner and a date, and check them at the next retro.
Can NoteOwl write up a retrospective for you?
Yes. Record the retro on your Mac and NoteOwl writes a summary with the decisions and the action items, each with its owner, from what was said. Give it a template with this page’s headings and it writes the retro in that shape.
Action items with owners
When the retro ends, NoteOwl lists who agreed to do what and by when, and puts the ones that involve you on its action items board.
Your own Retrospective template
Write a template with these headings in NoteOwl’s Templates screen, then choose Summarize as to get any recorded retro in this format. See the built-in templates.
Last retro’s actions, found
Ask NoteOwl what the team agreed at the last retro and it answers from your recordings, citing the passage. See chat with your meetings.
FAQ
Questions about retrospectives
What is a retrospective template?
A retrospective template is a set of headings a team fills in when it looks back on a sprint or a project: what went well, what didn’t, what to change, and the actions it agrees. NoteOwl’s free retrospective builder formats it as you type.
What are the three retrospective questions?
What went well, what didn’t go well, and what will we try next time? Start, stop, continue asks the same thing as three instructions. Whichever you use, finish with a few action items, each with an owner and a date.
How long should a sprint retrospective be?
About an hour for a two-week sprint, and up to an hour and a half for a month-long one: enough time to write, vote and agree actions. Keep it the same length every time, so the team can plan around it.
What is the difference between a retrospective and a project review?
A retrospective looks back on a short stretch of work, often every sprint, and changes how the team works next time. A project review happens once, when a project ends, and also checks the results against the goals. NoteOwl has a free builder for each.
Can I use this retrospective template in Confluence, Jira or Notion?
Yes. Copy it as plain text into Confluence, Jira, Notion or Google Docs, or download it from the builder as a Word document, PDF or Markdown file. The Markdown keeps its headings in Notion, GitHub and other Markdown editors.
Can NoteOwl take notes in a retrospective?
Yes. NoteOwl records the retro on your Mac, with no bot in the call, and writes the summary, the decisions and the action items with their owners from what was said. Everything, the AI included, runs on your Mac.
Related
- Project review template Objectives against results, and the lessons for the next project.
- Stand-up meeting template Yesterday, today and blockers for each person, with a builder.
- Action item tracker template Every action from your retros, with owners, due dates and status.
- AI note taker for product teams Customer interviews, design reviews and stand-ups, written up on your Mac.
Keep exploring
More templates
- Project kickoff meeting agendaA kickoff meeting agenda builder: the eight usual items timed from the start, with the goal, scope, milestones, roles and risks the kickoff agrees
- Team meeting agenda templateA weekly team meeting agenda builder: standing items, topics added this week, last week’s action items and a rotating facilitator, timed from the start
- Board meeting agenda templateA board meeting agenda builder in the usual order of business, each item marked for information, discussion, decision or approval, with board papers and motions
- All-hands meeting agendaAn all-hands meeting agenda builder: company update, wins, team updates, announcements, a deep dive and open Q&A, timed, with the questions sent in
More template builders
- Client onboarding call agendaA client onboarding call agenda builder: the client’s goals, first deliverables, what you need from them, contacts, ways of working and next steps, timed
- Weekly status report templateA weekly status report builder: on track, at risk or off track first, then done, next, milestones, risks with owners and the decisions needed
Get your retros written up on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
Last updated