The Agile Retrospective “Good Bad Ugly” incl. direct access

You are looking for a “good bad ugly” retrospective? Okay, tada, here it is. It’s actually quite simple and based on the 1966 film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” starring Clint Eastwood.

Agile Retrospective Good Bad Ugly

What to consider before doing this retrospective

I always emphasize that with every retrospective, be it the “Good Bad Ugly” retrospective or another, not only the 5 phases of a retrospective But also take into account the Double diamond model , which suggests to have even more than only the 5 phases.

Simply said, the model recommends to spend as much time on developing good action items to spend just as much time as for the “Gathering Information” at the beginning of the retro. Because the quality of the measures is the prerequisite for their success - and thus for the continuous improvement of your team.

agile sprint retrospective good bad ugly

But now to the format of the retrospective based on the film “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.

The Agile Retrospective Good Bad Ugly

The process of the agile retrospective “Good Bad Ugly” is simple. Based on the three words, you ask three questions or specify three areas to which the team members can give feedback.

Obviously, feel free to draw a graph or draw these areas on an actual or digital whiteboard so that team members can draw on these. These are the three retrospective questions:

  • Good - what went well in the last sprint or in the last few weeks, where did you have fun?
  • The Bad - looking at the last Scrum sprint, what went not so well, maybe even bad? What was not so much fun?
  • Ugly - What was ugly, unpleasant, so that we should try to bring it into the “beautiful” area? Where can we bring about a turnaround?

By the way, you can do this retrospective online using our retrospective tool Echometer now (no registration necessary):

Conclusion - Agile Retrospective Good Bad Ugly

That’s how it goes! We can keep it pretty simple 🙂 However, before you decide on the agile retrospective ‘good bad ugly’, I would recommend that you also take a look at other approaches.

Specifically, you might want to have a look at our list of 32 retrospective ideas for beginners and pros - have fun!

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FAQs about Retrospective Tool

Top answers for anyone exploring our Retrospective Tool.

Is a paid tool for team retrospectives worth it?

Team retrospectives can quickly turn into time-consuming processes if preparation, moderation and follow-up are implemented manually. A paid tool like Echometer helps you to standardize these processes, accelerate them and make them measurably better.

Why the investment is worth it:

  • Reusable Templates & Themes: You don’t have to rebuild retros every time. Instead, proven formats, timeboxing templates and asynchronous feedback are available.
  • Documentation & Measures: Every learning and every action item is automatically recorded. This ensures that knowledge is retained, even when team members change.
  • View of Team Health: Dashboards show trends across teams, allowing you to react seamlessly when issues arise.
  • Scalability & Independence: Teams conduct their own retrospectives, coaches remain focused, and new team members find it easy to get started.

In addition: Echometer delivers standardized ROI calculations. This allows every manager to see in black and white the time savings, productivity gains and cultural improvements achieved by the investment.

Open ROI calculator

Do I have to register to test the Retro Tool?

No, you do not need to log in to Echometer or register to test the Retro Board and Retro Tool in Echometer.

You can try out Echometer’s Retro Board via the following link without logging in: Try a Practice Round

How can I buy Echometer's retro tool?

First, simply register for free in Echometer. Then navigate to the workspace for which you would like to purchase the retro tool. If you haven’t already done so, you can do so here: Create account in Echometer 1:1 tool

You can then manage your subscription (for both the retro tool and the 1:1 software) within the workspace settings.

You can choose from various payment methods when upgrading.

If you do not have access to your company’s credit card yourself, you can simply add a buyer as a workspace admin in your Echometer workspace so that this admin can carry out the upgrade for you.

What is the difference between the Retrospective tool and the 1:1 software?

In Echometer there are two separate software solutions that are available within each workspace in Echometer:

  • 1:1 tool: Software for planning and conducting 1:1 meetings and tracking employee development
  • Retrospective tool: Software for planning and moderating retrospectives and tracking team development through team health checks

Both are independent software solutions, so they can be used separately from each other.

However, they work according to the same principles and aim to achieve the same added value: The continuous improvement of agile teams. In this respect, the simultaneous use of both software solutions is recommended.

Can I appoint several admins in Echometer?

Yes, you can assign administration rights to any number of users at both team level and workspace level. Please note the following:

  • Only workspace admins can take out and manage a Echometer subscription for a Echometer workspace.
  • Only workspace admins can create additional teams and name or remove additional workspace admins.
  • Team admins can appoint and remove additional team admins and team members for their team
What is the best retrospective software for beginners to get started with?

If an agile team does not yet have much experience with retrospectives, a tool that effectively guides you through the retrospective and offers many templates is recommended:

  • Echometer is known not only for being an intuitive online retro board, but also for offering a very effective guided flow through the retrospective. At the same time, Echometer offers whiteboards that can be flexibly integrated into the retrospective. This makes Echometer very beginner-friendly.
  • Echometer also has extremely versatile and creative templates for retrospectives and team Health Checks that stimulate team reflection. Inexperienced teams in particular are very grateful for the food for thought in Echometer.

This makes Echometer the best software recommendation for beginners with agile retrospectives or Scrum beginners. By the way, you can try out Echometer for free without logging in: Echometer Try out the retro tool