# Inside Out Retrospective Team members post reflections across four emotion lenses (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear) and distill them into assigned commitments under a Control Tower column. **Time:** 50 minutes. Extended to 50 minutes to allow adequate synthesis and clear task assignment across up to 24 participants. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual reflection, followed by breakout teams of 2 to 4 people inspecting specific columns, concluding with whole-room action drafting. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Identify process successes and bottlenecks across emotional categories to establish clear operational commitments for the next cycle. **Use it when:** End of a sprint, project phase, or milestone when team climate and workflow habits need candid, structured review. **Skip it when:** Situations involving formal disciplinary action, acute human resources investigations, or purely mechanical data reviews with no collaboration component. ## Materials and tools - Whiteboard, wall space, or digital board divided into 5 columns: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Control Tower - Sticky notes in 4 distinct colors (yellow for Joy, blue for Sadness, red for Anger, orange for Fear, plus green or white for Control Tower) - Markers or pens (1 per person) - Countdown timer ## Before participants arrive 1. Draw 5 vertical columns on the board labeled: Joy (Triumphs and satisfaction), Sadness (Disappointments and missed goals), Anger (Frustrations and bottlenecks), Fear (Anxieties and future risks), and Control Tower (Concrete actions). 2. Distribute colored sticky notes and markers: yellow for Joy, blue for Sadness, red for Anger, orange for Fear. 3. If running online, configure the digital whiteboard with these 5 pre-labeled columns and matched note colors. ## Say this to open Welcome. Today we will look back at our recent cycle through four emotional categories: Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Fear. These feelings highlight where our tools and handoffs work well and where they break down. We will finish at the Control Tower, where we convert observations into concrete actions. Write about tasks, workflows, or tools. Be honest about systems, avoid personal blame, and keep any note private if you prefer not to post it. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce categories and write silently (7 minutes) Facilitator delivers the opening script and explains the color-coded columns. Participants write silently on sticky notes, one observation per note, using the matching color for each emotion. For example, a note on missing sprint requirements goes on red for Anger, while a smooth deployment goes on yellow for Joy. Participants keep notes at their desks until the timer ends. ### 2. Post and group notes silently (8 minutes) Participants bring their notes to the board and place them in the four emotion columns. Anyone may choose to keep a note private without providing a reason. As participants post, they silently cluster related notes within each column to reveal shared patterns. ### 3. Examine columns in breakout teams (10 minutes) Divide participants into small teams of 2 or 3. If the group count leaves a single person (such as 7 or 13 people), form a group of 4 rather than leaving an individual alone. Assign each small team to examine one specific emotion column. Each team reviews the clusters, identifies the top pattern, and drafts 1 or 2 proposed solutions on green or white notes for the Control Tower. ### 4. Build Control Tower agreements (18 minutes) Reconvene the full room. Each breakout team presents their proposed solutions, taking no more than 90 seconds per team. The full group selects and refines 2 to 4 high-priority tasks. Each accepted task must have a single named owner and a specific review date within two weeks before being posted in the Control Tower column. ### 5. Debrief and close (7 minutes) Facilitator reads the debrief questions aloud. Up to 4 participants offer brief, one-sentence observations on what stood out. Facilitator reviews the Control Tower owners and dates, then concludes the session. ## Debrief questions - Which emotional column revealed the most unexpected common pattern? - How did examining Anger or Sadness help point us toward concrete fixes? - How will we track our Control Tower commitments over the next two weeks? **Finished output:** A documented 5-column retrospective board with 2 to 4 agreed action items in the Control Tower, each assigned to a single owner with an explicit review date. ## Remote Use a digital whiteboard with 5 columns preset to match the four emotion colors. Participants generate digital stickies during silent writing. Place participants into video breakout rooms of 2 to 4 people to review assigned columns. Return to the primary meeting room to present candidate cards and assign Control Tower tasks. ## Hybrid All participants, in-room and remote, log into the same digital whiteboard to write and cluster sticky notes. Room audio is connected to the remote meeting audio. During the breakout step, form distinct in-person pairs and separate remote breakout rooms to avoid audio feedback. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may submit notes anonymously through digital boards or a physical collection box on the facilitator table. - Participants may pass on speaking during plenary sharing without justification. - The facilitator reads wall notes aloud upon request for participants with visual impairments. ## If the session gets stuck **Notes in the Anger column point fingers at named individuals.** Intervene immediately. Remind participants that retro cards must focus on workflow breakdowns, tooling failures, or missing information, not individual character. Ask the writer to restate the operational problem or remove the card. **Control Tower proposals are vague ideals without clear accountability.** Enforce the completion rule: if a card does not have a single responsible owner and a target check-in date within two weeks, it cannot enter the Control Tower column and moves to an uncommitted parking lot. ## Terms used here - Control Tower: The final column on the board dedicated strictly to actionable process changes, owners, and due dates. ## Sources and adaptation Observed on EasyRetro, which credits inspiration to a LinkedIn post by Fabiane Reis based on the movie Inside Out. Preserved the 5-column structure (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Control Tower) from EasyRetro evidence. UWT adapted timing to 50 minutes, established color coordination for notes, defined breakout team math including handling odd group sizes, added explicit boundaries against personal blame, and enforced owner assignment rules for the Control Tower. [EasyRetro](https://easyretro.io/templates/inside-out-retrospective/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/inside-out-retrospective/