Sprint Retrospective Questions: 10 that actually help
I am a Scrum Master and psychologist and have moderated over 200 retrospectives by now. That’s exactly why I’m writing this post the way I would want to read it myself before any difficult retro: direct, practical, and without filler text.
If you are looking for sprint retrospective questions (or for sprint retrospective questions), you don’t need a list of 50 interchangeable questions. You need questions that generate decisions.
Sprint Retrospective Questions in 30 seconds
- Good questions make causes visible, not just symptoms.
- Good questions lead to a maximum of 1 to 2 clear measures.
- Good questions have a success criterion until the next retro.
Sprint Retrospective Questions: 10 that actually help
I use these 10 questions particularly often because they quickly lead to quality in the team:
- Which decision from the last sprint was correct in its result, even though it felt wrong at first?
- Where did we treat symptoms instead of solving causes?
- Where did we mistake speed for progress?
- Which bottleneck was predictable but became visible too late?
- Which dependency cost us the most controllability?
- Which work generated a lot of effort but delivered little value?
- Which team habit should we consciously maintain?
- Which team habit should we consistently stop?
- Which single change would have the greatest leverage in the next 10 days?
- How will we recognize in the next retro that things actually got better?
Sprint Retrospective Questions: 5 less intuitive but smart additional questions
These questions are not the classics, but they often bring the best insights:
- Which unspoken team rule regularly slows us down?
- Where did we agree out of harmony, even though we had technical doubts?
- Which decision would we make again, but earlier this time?
- Which important information was available but not at the place of decision?
- If we had to delete a process step: Which one would it be and what would even run better afterwards?
Sprint Retrospective Questions: Which question fits when?
This is how I quickly decide during moderation which questions to select:
| Team situation | Best question types | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Lots of frustration, little focus | Cause and pattern questions | ”Where are we treating symptoms instead of causes?” |
| Lots of activity, little impact | Value and prioritization questions | ”Which work was effortful but had little impact?” |
| High uncertainty in the sprint | Decision and learning questions | ”Which decision was right despite uncertainty?” |
| Recurring problems | System questions | ”Which unspoken rule is slowing us down?” |
| Good discussion, but no implementation | Commitment and measurement questions | ”How will we recognize progress by the next retro?” |
Rule that I strictly follow: A maximum of 6 to 8 questions per retro, but with clear prioritization and ownership.
If you want the central sprint retrospective questions as a 1-page cheat sheet, you can download them here in English:
Download PDF: Sprint Retrospective Questions (EN)My process for a productive 45-minute retro
- Check-in (5 min)
- Collect answers (10 min)
- Cluster patterns (10 min)
- Decide on measures (15 min)
- Conclude bindingly (5 min)
If we don’t have clear responsibility and a success criterion at the end, the retro wasn’t finished for me.
Three in-depth guides that I recommend for this
If you want to dive deeper after the sprint retrospective questions, these three articles from our blog are the most helpful:
- Retrospective methods: further formats and question logics
- Retrospective check-in: strong starts for more participation
- Retrospective measures: how action items are implemented
As an external reference for Scrum classification, I also regularly use the guidance from Scrum.org on the Sprint Retrospective.
Spotify Health Check as an upgrade for deeper reflection
When I notice that my team needs to look at team health systematically rather than just discussing symptoms, I use the Spotify Health Check as a template extension:
Team Retrospective with Spotify Health Check: How the retro works
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Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
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Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
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Health Check
All team members can answer the health checks anonymously on a scale. Then go through the results of the health checks together and record any additional comments if necessary. If you use the same health checks in several retrospectives, you can also track trends over time in Echometer.
- We love going to work and have a lot of fun working together.
- We always get great support and help when we ask for it.
- We are a great team that works together wonderfully.
- We are constantly learning many interesting things.
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Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
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Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
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Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
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Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
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Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
Team Retrospective with Spotify Health Check
Health Check Questions (Scale)
You can find more context on this in my post about the Spotify Health Check in Retrospectives .
If you would prefer to start with very proven formats: The three classic retro templates below are a strong and uncomplicated entry point for that.
3 Retrospective questions #1
The What Went Well Retrospective👍
The “What Went Well” retrospective is probably the most popular or well-known among all retrospective ideas. Looking back at the last sprint cycle, these 3 questions are asked:
What Went Well Retro 👍: How the retro works
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Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
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Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
-
Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- What went well?
- What went not so well?
- How can we improve?
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Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
-
Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
-
Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
-
Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
What Went Well Retro 👍
3 Retrospective questions #2
The Mad Sad Glad retrospective 😯
The “Mad Sad Glad” retrospective method has a similar pattern but uses three typical emotions to make it a bit more interesting for the team.
Mad Sad Glad Retro 😯: How the retro works
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Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
-
Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
-
Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- What made you mad? 😤
- What made you sad? 😢
- What made you glad? 🤩
-
Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
-
Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
-
Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
-
Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
Mad Sad Glad Retro 😯
3 Retrospective questions #3
The Scrum Retrospective Start Stop Keep 🔖
The Scrum retrospective Start Stop Keep is also known as Start Stop Continue. I often recommend the order Keep, Stop, Start because you start on a positive note and end with concrete measures.
Keep stop start retro: How the retro works
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Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
-
Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
-
Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- Keep: What should we keep?
- Stop: What should we stop doing?
- Start: What should we start doing?
-
Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
-
Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
-
Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
-
Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
Keep stop start retro
Conclusion
If you only take away one thing, let it be this: Good sprint retrospective questions generate decisions, not just conversation.
Take 6 to 8 sprint retrospective questions from this post, use the framework for selection, and commit to a maximum of 1 to 2 measures until the next retro.
If you want a moderated guide next, this eBook is a good fit: eBook with tips for retro moderation.
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Who takes part in a retrospective?
A retrospective typically takes place at the team level. Usually, such agile teams have at least 3 members and up to 10 members. So all team members participate in the retrospective - regardless of the respective role of the team members within the team.
Whether the team leader counts as a team member depends on the context and must ultimately be decided by the team itself. The more involved team leaders are in the team’s day-to-day work, the more sense it makes for them to also take part in the team’s retrospectives.
A moderator should be appointed to ensure that the process runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. This task can be performed by the Scrum Master, for example, but also by another team member. You may also simply rotate the moderation role within the team – everyone takes turns in a certain order.
Which steps are part of a retrospective?
Typically, there are five phases for retrospectives: Set the stage, Gather data, Generate insights, Decide what to do, and Close. The exact process can vary, but it should always lead to concrete action items. In addition to the classic 5 phases of retrospectives, there is also the Double Diamond model for the phases of retrospectives , which provides facilitators of retrospectives with a more intuitive image for successful and result-oriented facilitation.
What mistakes should definitely be avoided during the first team retrospective?
Especially for teams with little or no experience of retrospectives, care should be taken to avoid the following mistakes:
- Mistake no. 1: Retrospective as a chat meeting. Not all feedback in a retrospective needs to be discussed. Only the topics that have been prioritized together deserve extra attention. All discussions about details before the voting should therefore be moderated and postponed until after the voting.
- Mistake no. 2: Retrospective as a blame game. The retrospective is not there to shift responsibility or blame others for negative events or developments. Improving the status quo is in the hands of all team members!
- Mistake no. 3: Retrospective as a gripe box. Retrospectives are not just about noting what is not working well. Most of the energy should be focused on thinking ahead and defining binding measures.
For the first retrospective, it is a good idea to use a dedicated retro tool for support. Echometer, with its intuitive and guided mode, is very well suited for inexperienced teams. You can try out a retrospective in Echometer here: https://my.echometerapp.com/retro-setup
How do you measure the success of a retrospective?
The success of retrospectives is reflected in the fact that agreed measures are implemented and measurable improvements are achieved. In addition to productivity indicators (which should be treated with caution), teams use, for example, the tracking of action items, trends on feedback scales in team health check / pulse check surveys.
Does the Echometer offer retro templates, ideas and sample questions?
Yes, Echometer offers many high-quality templates for retrospectives and the respective steps of a retrospective.
Echometer is the retrospective software tool with probably the most integrated retrospective template ideas and patterns:
- The retro templates in Echometer include sample questions for the retro board. These are often creatively based on specific themes - such as the “Kart Racing Retrospective” or the “Time Travel Retrospective”.
- Some retro templates also contain templates for Health Checks. For example, to measure the Spotify Health Check or psychological safety in the team.
- When creating a team, you can choose from various team templates for management teams or scrum teams, for example. The team templates then put together a suitable team Health Check for the team.
- For icebreakers in the retrospective, Echometer has over 50 ideas for sample questions that can be used spontaneously and randomly in a retrospective via a random generator.
- And then there are whiteboard templates in Echometer, which contain ideas for check-ins, team building and the development of measures.
