# Thanks-Good-Bad-Ideas-Action Retrospective Teams reflect across five structured columns to express gratitude, review positive and negative experiences, propose improvements, and commit to assigned tasks. **Time:** 45 minutes. UWT suggested baseline for a thorough sprint review; expands on the original short template outline. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual silent drafting followed by whole-group review for groups of 4 to 8, or parallel sub-teams of 4 to 6 people on dedicated board zones for groups of 9 to 24. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Gather structured feedback across positive, critical, and generative categories and turn chosen items into assigned next steps. **Use it when:** Use at the end of a sprint, work cycle, or project milestone to review shared execution. **Skip it when:** Skip during an active operational emergency or when resolving a single interpersonal dispute that requires private mediation. ## Materials and tools - 1 shared wall or board divided into 5 columns (Thanks, Good, Bad, Ideas, Action Points); provide 1 dedicated 5-column board zone per sub-team if group exceeds 8 - Sticky notes (at least 15 per person) - Markers or pens (1 per person) - Sticky dots or small marker pens for voting (3 dots per person) - Countdown timer or clock ## Before participants arrive 1. Mark five vertical columns labeled Thanks, Good, Bad, Ideas, and Action Points on the wall or board. 2. If the group has 9 to 24 people, divide the wall into separate 5-column zones for each sub-team of 4 to 6. 3. Distribute sticky notes, markers, and voting dots to every seat. ## Say this to open Welcome to our retrospective. We have five columns: Thanks, Good, Bad, Ideas, and Action Points. We will write our thoughts silently first, review them together, and then choose concrete actions. Expressing appreciation is welcome, but personal disclosure is always optional. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce and write silently (10 minutes) Explain the five columns. Participants work individually and silently write one clear point per sticky note across the first four columns: Thanks (gratitude for peers or efforts), Good (successful practices or outcomes), Bad (obstacles or friction), and Ideas (concrete adjustments). Example: in Bad, write 'Daily standup ran 30 minutes over,' not 'Communication was awful.' Aim for 1 to 3 notes per column. Stop when the timer sounds. ### 2. Post, cluster, and appreciate (10 minutes) Participants post notes in their assigned board zone. Groups of 4 to 8 share one zone. Groups of 9 to 24 split into sub-teams of 4 to 6 (for example, 13 splits into 4, 4, 5) at separate zones. Participants silently read all cards for 2 minutes. Anyone can then move similar notes into topical clusters, speaking briefly only to clarify intent. Stack exact duplicates. A volunteer reads 2 or 3 Thanks cards aloud. ### 3. Discuss, vote, and consolidate ideas (15 minutes) Within each zone, review Good clusters to note effective patterns, then examine Bad clusters to clarify friction points without blame. Connect each Bad note to a proposal in Ideas. Each person places up to three voting dots on preferred ideas. For groups with sub-teams, each sub-team selects their top-voted idea and a spokesperson reads it to the whole room for consolidation into a single master board. ### 4. Commit to action points (10 minutes) Translate the selected ideas into the Action Points column on the main board. Limit the list to no more than three items. Each action point must state an exact task, a single named owner, and a firm completion date. Confirm who will document and circulate the list. Ask one question from the debrief list to close, inviting up to two brief volunteer responses. ## Debrief questions - Which action point will make the clearest difference in our next cycle? - What did we learn from the Bad column that we can prevent early next time? **Finished output:** A completed retrospective board with reviewed feedback and a finalized Action Points column listing concrete tasks, assigned owners, and explicit due dates. ## Remote Set up a digital whiteboard with the five columns. Give participants 8 minutes to post notes silently. For groups under 9, the facilitator reads Thanks notes aloud. For groups of 9 to 24, participants silently read the Thanks column for 2 minutes and call out up to three highlights. In breakout rooms or on shared zones, teams cluster Good, Bad, and Ideas. Each group moves their top idea to a shared action board. ## Hybrid All participants, whether in the room or remote, submit sticky notes onto a single shared digital board displayed on the room screen. In-person participants type on laptops or dictate to an in-room scribe who posts on the digital canvas in real time. Remote and in-person members alternate verbal turns during discussion, and all cast their voting dots on the shared digital board. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may submit notes anonymously or choose to leave specific columns blank. - Speaking during discussion is optional; contributors may post cards, use chat, or observe without pressure. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants list vague complaints in the Bad column without actionable context.** Ask the group what specific process or handoff broke down and route it directly into the Ideas column as a testable fix. **The team creates too many action points to complete in the next cycle.** Cap the Action Points column at a maximum of three items for the upcoming cycle. Archive the remaining ideas in the team backlog. ## Terms used here - Retrospective: A recurring team meeting to inspect recent work practices and plan concrete process adjustments. ## Sources and adaptation Observed as a retrospective template attributed to Daniel on EasyRetro. Retained the five column prompts (Thanks, Good, Bad, Ideas, Action Points) observed on EasyRetro. UWT structured the session into a 45-minute progression with silent generation, subgroup partitioning for larger rooms, clear clustering rules, dot voting, whole-room consolidation, and mandatory owners and deadlines on action items. [EasyRetro](https://easyretro.io/templates/thanks-good-bad-ideas-action/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/thanks-good-bad-ideas-action/