Guide only · On the RetroRally roadmap
Mad, Sad, Glad retrospective template
An emotion-aware format for surfacing frustration, disappointment, and positive moments before deciding what the team should change.
A practical RetroRally guide · Updated August 2026
When to use Mad, Sad, Glad
A difficult sprint where emotional signals are affecting delivery or trust.
When not to use it
Psychological safety is low and the facilitator cannot provide a confidential escalation route for serious concerns.
Suggested timing
35–50 minutes. Reduce the number of themes before shortening private writing or action design.
Preparation
- Explain that feelings are valid signals, not proof of intent.
- Create Mad, Sad, and Glad categories.
- Agree that the room will discuss patterns without guessing authors.
Exact prompts
- What made you angry or blocked?
- What disappointed or discouraged you?
- What made you proud, relieved, or happy?
Step-by-step facilitation
- Set safety rules — 5 min. Ask for concrete situations and impacts. Ban blame, interrogation, and attempts to identify anonymous contributors.
- Private reflection — 8 min. Participants add observations to any category. Nobody has to contribute to all three.
- Reveal themes — 8 min. Read and cluster the observations, keeping emotionally charged wording intact unless it identifies someone.
- Explore impact — 10 min. Discuss what the pattern changed for the team and what is within the team’s control.
- Commit — 8 min. Select one experiment and one positive practice worth protecting.
Example answers
- Mad: urgent scope changes arrived after development started.
- Sad: our demo skipped the accessibility work we finished.
- Glad: support joined refinement and prevented rework.
Remote and hybrid adaptations
- Collect entries anonymously before the meeting if the sprint was tense.
- Use a facilitator co-host to watch chat and participation.
- Offer a short break before solution generation.
Common mistakes
- Trying to debate whether a feeling is justified.
- Forcing contributors to explain an anonymous note.
- Ending on emotion without choosing a practical next step.
Turn the discussion into action
Translate the strongest pattern into a team-controlled experiment. Preserve a Glad item as an explicit working agreement when it contributed to success.
Review the action at the start of the next retrospective. Mark it complete, partially complete, or blocked, then use the evidence to decide whether to keep, change, or stop the experiment.
Explore related resources
Compare every retrospective template, browse questions by team situation, or learn how to run the complete meeting.