Standard + Shoutouts retrospective template
The classic three columns plus a place to thank people by name.
Also known as: Went Well / To Improve / Action Items / Shoutouts, Kudos retrospective, Appreciation retro.
The standard retrospective with a fourth column reserved for recognising specific people. Teams that add it usually do so because appreciation kept getting squeezed out of "Went Well" by process feedback, and a column of its own is the cheapest way to protect it.
The columns, and what goes in each
- Went Well
- What worked this sprint that you would want to happen again?
- To Improve
- What slowed the team down, frustrated you, or nearly went wrong?
- Action Items
- What will we actually change before the next retro, and who owns it?
- Shoutouts
- Who helped you, unblocked you, or did something worth naming out loud?
When to use the Standard + Shoutouts retrospective
- A team that has been under pressure and needs the session to end on something other than problems
- Distributed teams where good work is easy to miss because nobody sees it happen
- After a release or an incident where several people quietly carried more than their share
How to run a Standard + Shoutouts retrospective
- Write silently across all four columns for about seven minutes.
- Read the Shoutouts column first — it sets the tone for the rest of the session.
- Work through Went Well and To Improve, grouping and voting as usual.
- Close with action items, then re-read the shoutouts before you end the call.
Run this retrospective in RetroCanvas
Standard + Shoutouts is built in — pick it when you create a board, or set it to recur automatically every sprint. Free, with no credit card required.