Free Agile Retrospective Templates

Choose the right retrospective format for your team. Explore the most popular Agile retrospective templates and learn when to use each one.

A retrospective template gives your team a shared structure for reflecting on the sprint. Rather than starting with a blank board, templates provide focused categories that guide the conversation and help surface the right insights. Different templates work better at different stages of team maturity, morale, and goals.

BugNBrag includes all of the templates below — no setup needed. Create a free session and choose a template to get started in seconds.

Popular Retrospective Templates

Start Stop Continue

Three focused columns — what to start, what to stop, and what to keep doing. Simple, actionable, and effective for any team.

Great for all maturity levels
Action-oriented and easy to run
Balanced positive and constructive feedback

Mad Sad Glad

An emotion-based format that surfaces how the team feels about the sprint — frustrations, disappointments, and wins.

Builds psychological safety
Great when morale or tension is high
Surfaces issues before they escalate

Rose Thorn Bud

A garden-inspired format: Roses are successes, Thorns are challenges, and Buds are opportunities not yet explored.

Visually intuitive for new teams
Highlights future growth potential
Encourages a growth mindset

4Ls Retrospective

Captures what was Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For — covering satisfaction, growth, gaps, and desires.

Encourages reflective learning
Balances positives with constructive gaps
Good for knowledge-sharing teams

Sailboat

A visual metaphor: wind pushes you forward, anchors slow you down, rocks ahead are risks, and the island is your goal.

Highly engaging and visual
Great for goal-focused discussions
Surfaces risks and blockers clearly

Starfish

Five categories: Start Doing, Stop Doing, Keep Doing, More Of, and Less Of — more nuanced than Start Stop Continue.

Finer-grained feedback than SSC
Great for experienced Agile teams
Surfaces subtle adjustments

BugNBrag (Default)

BugNBrag's signature format with Bugs, Brags, Action Items, and Kudos. See examples →

Focused on bugs and wins
Built-in kudos for recognition
Clear action item tracking

How to Choose the Right Retrospective Template

The best template is the one that fits your team's current situation. Here are some guidelines to help you decide.

For new or less experienced teams

Start with Start Stop Continue or Rose Thorn Bud. These formats are intuitive and require no prior retrospective knowledge.

When team morale is low or tension is high

Use Mad Sad Glad. Giving people space to name frustrations builds psychological safety and surfaces problems before they fester.

When the team feels stuck or blocked

Try Sailboat. Visualizing what's propelling you forward versus what's anchoring you is a powerful way to identify systemic issues.

For mature Agile teams seeking deeper insight

Starfish or 4Ls encourage more nuanced reflection and help experienced teams make subtle, high-impact adjustments.

To keep retrospectives fresh

Rotating templates prevents retrospective fatigue. If your team has used the same format for several sprints, switching formats re-energizes participation and surfaces different types of feedback.

💡 Tip: BugNBrag lets Scrum Masters switch templates between sessions — so you can rotate formats without any extra setup. Template changes are only available before any cards have been added, keeping existing session data safe.

Ready to run your next retrospective?

All templates are built into BugNBrag — free, no account required.

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