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Run your Scrum retrospective online

A calm, structured retrospective for remote or hybrid teams: write in silence, read together, vote, and leave with actions you will actually follow up.

What is a sprint retrospective?

The retrospective is the Scrum event where the team looks back at the last sprint — people, interactions, processes, tools — and decides what to improve next. It closes the sprint and feeds the next one.

A good retrospective is not a complaint session. It ends with a few concrete actions that someone owns, and that the team checks at the next retro.

A simple structure that works

1. Review the previous actions. Did we do what we said we would?
2. Check the weather. Everyone picks the weather of their sprint, from sunshine to storm, to set the mood.
3. Write in silence. Each person writes notes on their own, without seeing the others.
4. Reveal and read together. Notes appear for everyone, ideally without authors, so ideas are judged on their own.
5. Vote. Each person has a few votes to spread over the topics that matter most.
6. Decide on actions. Turn the top topics into a small number of concrete actions.

12 formats to avoid the same retro every time

Changing the format changes the conversation. Scrum Island includes twelve:

• Sailboat: wind, anchor, rocks and island.
• Mad / Sad / Glad and Rose / Bud / Thorn: for emotions and highlights.
• 4L: liked, learned, lacked, longed for.
• Start / Stop / Continue, Starfish, Plus / Delta, KALM and DAKI: for practical improvements.
• Treasure hunt, Hot air balloon and Traffic lights: for a lighter, more visual angle.

The retrospective at the Campfire on Scrum Island

On Scrum Island, the retro takes place around the Campfire.

• The steps above are built in: previous actions, weather, writing, reveal, vote and actions.
• Nobody sees your notes before the reveal, which makes it easier to say what you really think.
• Each person has three votes to distribute as they like.
• Actions are saved in the island's logbook and come back at the next retro. When an action is completed, a tree grows on the island.
• You can close with a ROTI (return on time invested) to find out whether the retro was useful, and vote on whether the sprint goal was achieved.

Free, in real time, no account, in English, French and Dutch.

Tips for retrospectives that change something

• Keep few actions, one to three. Too many means none gets done.
• Give each action an owner and a due date, and review them first at the next retro.
• Alternate formats every few sprints to keep attention up.
• Protect psychological safety. Anonymous notes and a neutral facilitator help people speak up.