Column 1
Mad
What caused frustration, unfairness, or avoidable friction?
Example cards
- A late scope change invalidated completed work.
- The same build failure interrupted us all week.
- Decisions changed without the team hearing why.
Ready-to-use template
Mad Sad Glad Retrospective
Mad Sad Glad makes the emotional impact of work discussable without turning the meeting into a complaint session. The columns reveal where people felt blocked, let down, or energized and help connect those feelings to events the team can influence.
- Duration
- 30–40 minutes
- Team size
- 3–12 people
- Best for
- Morale shifts, demanding sprints, and teams rebuilding shared understanding
What each column means
Use the prompts to keep cards specific. The examples show the level of detail that makes discussion and voting useful.
Column 2
Sad
What disappointed the team or represented a missed opportunity?
Example cards
- We cut the accessibility improvements again.
- A teammate had to solve the incident alone.
- Customer research arrived after the design was final.
Column 3
Glad
What created pride, relief, connection, or useful momentum?
Example cards
- Support joined refinement and prevented rework.
- The team protected focus during the outage.
- Our new release check caught a risky migration.
30–40 minutes agenda
A complete path from framing the room to assigning one concrete follow-up.
- 013 minutes
Frame the review
Name the sprint or project being reviewed, restate the purpose of each column, and remind everyone to describe observable events.
- 027 minutes
Write observations silently
Give everyone uninterrupted time to add one specific observation per card across every column.
- 037 minutes
Share and clarify
Read the cards column by column and let authors add context without debating solutions yet.
- 045 minutes
Group and vote
Combine cards that describe the same pattern, then vote for the themes that would most improve the next iteration.
- 0510 minutes
Discuss the leading themes
Explore causes, consequences, and tradeoffs behind the highest-voted themes while making space for dissenting evidence.
- 065 minutes
Commit to one change
Turn the strongest insight into a small action with an owner, deadline, and signal the team can review next time.
Use this format when
- A sprint carried visible emotional weight.
- Morale matters but has not been discussed directly.
- The team needs empathy before choosing process changes.
Choose another format when
- Psychological safety is too low for open emotional disclosure.
- There is an active personal dispute requiring a private process.
- A neutral incident review is the immediate goal.
Facilitation tips
- Let participants choose how personally they want to phrase a card.
- Never ask someone to defend an emotion.
- Move from feelings to the event or condition behind them.
- Balance airtime across all three columns.
- End with support or process changes the team controls.
Useful variations
Anonymous Mad Sad Glad
Hide card authors and reveal contributions together when speaking openly feels risky.
Milestone reflection
Review the emotional arc of a release or project rather than a single sprint.
Customer Mad Sad Glad
Use the columns to reflect on observed customer reactions while separating evidence from assumptions.
Before the retro
Recommended warm-up
Most Likely To
Use positive appreciation prompts with an established, trusting team.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Mad Sad Glad retrospective?
It is an emotion-centered retrospective that organizes observations around frustration, disappointment, and positive experiences.
Is Mad Sad Glad safe for work teams?
It can be when participation boundaries are clear, cards focus on events rather than people, and the facilitator does not force emotional disclosure.
What should go in the Mad column?
Add specific situations that caused frustration or avoidable friction, such as late scope changes or repeated build failures.
How does the team turn feelings into actions?
Identify the condition behind a high-priority feeling and choose a small process or support change with an owner.
Related retrospective templates
Run this Mad Sad Glad Retrospective
Open the ready-made columns, invite the team, collect observations, vote, and leave with an owned improvement.