Sad, Mad, Glad Retrospective

When to use Sad, Mad, Glad Retrospective

Use this method to quickly gauge the emotional climate of the team and identify potential sources of dissatisfaction or frustration that may be impacting performance.

What it solves

Difficulty surfacing underlying emotions, lack of awareness of the emotional impact of work, avoiding difficult conversations.

How to run Sad, Mad, Glad Retrospective, step by step

1. Introduce the Categories (5 min) - Explain the meaning of each category: Sad (what disappointed you?), Mad (what frustrated you?), and Glad (what made you happy?).
2. Individual Reflection (10 min) - Each participant silently reflects on the past sprint and writes down their thoughts on sticky notes, one idea per note, for each of the three categories.
3. Share and Discuss (20 min) - Participants take turns sharing their sticky notes, placing them in the appropriate column. Facilitate a discussion around the key themes and patterns that emerge.
4. Identify Action Items (15 min) - Based on the discussion, identify specific action items to address the 'Sad' and 'Mad' items, and to reinforce the 'Glad' items.

Materials needed

• Sticky notes
• Markers
• Whiteboard or digital equivalent (Miro, Mural)
• Timer

Facilitator tips

• Create a safe and supportive environment for sharing potentially negative emotions.
• Encourage participants to be specific and provide examples to support their feedback.
• Focus on understanding the underlying causes of the emotions, not just the emotions themselves.

Common pitfalls

• Participants avoiding negative emotions. Remind them that it's okay to share negative feelings in a constructive way.
• Focusing only on individual experiences. Encourage participants to consider the team's perspective.
• Lack of follow-up on action items. Ensure that action items are assigned and tracked.

Variations

• Use different prompts within each category to focus the discussion (e.g., 'What made you sad about the communication?', 'What made you mad about the process?', 'What made you glad about the results?').
• Combine the Sad, Mad, Glad with other retrospective techniques, such as dot voting or action planning.

Running it online or hybrid

Use a shared online document or whiteboard with three columns labeled Sad, Mad, and Glad. Participants can add their thoughts to each column using virtual sticky notes or text.

What it produces

A whiteboard or digital document with sticky notes organized into three columns: Sad, Mad, and Glad.

Origin

Mentioned in Atlassian Team Playbook — source

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