Method · Retrospectives

Mad, sad, glad: how to run it

A retrospective built on feelings: what made the team mad, what made it sad, and what made it glad — useful when emotions are running high and need to be heard before problems can be fixed.

45 minutes5 stepsRetrospectives
Other methods

When it helps

Use it after a stressful period, a difficult launch or a big change, when people need to say how they felt before they can think clearly about what to change.

When to use something else

Skip it with a group that does not yet trust each other, unless notes can be anonymous; and do not use it to avoid a factual review of a serious failure.

How to run it, step by step

  1. Set the tone3 min
    • Feelings are welcome; no one has to justify them.
  2. Write alone7 min
    • Notes under mad, sad and glad. Anonymous if the team prefers.
  3. Read and group10 min
    • Read notes aloud without debate; group similar ones.
  4. Talk about the biggest clusters15 min
    • What sits behind the mad and sad notes?
  5. What we change10 min
    • One or two actions, with owners — and what to protect from the glad column.

What comes out — an example

Made up, to show the shape.

Mad. Weekend deploys to hit a date that then moved.

Sad. Two colleagues left during the project.

Glad. Customers loved the new reports.

Actions. No weekend deploys without the director’s sign-off (Ravi); a proper farewell for leavers (Kate).

Questions

What is a mad sad glad retrospective?

A retrospective in which the team writes down what made them mad, sad and glad during a period, to bring feelings into the open before agreeing changes.

When should you use mad sad glad?

After stressful or emotional periods, when feelings need to be heard before practical changes.

How do you keep it safe?

Allow anonymous notes, read without debating, and focus on what to change rather than who is to blame.

Other methods

Start, stop, continueA quick retrospective in three columns: what we should start doing, stop doing, and keep doing — ending with two or three changes to try.The 4 Ls retrospectiveLook back on a piece of work through four words — what we liked, learned, lacked and longed for — to see both the good and what was missing.Sailboat retrospectiveDraw a boat sailing to an island: the team adds what pushes it forward (wind), what holds it back (anchors), and risks ahead (rocks) — a picture that makes a retrospective easier to talk about.Lean CoffeeA meeting with no agenda until it starts: everybody writes topics, the group votes, and you talk about the most popular ones in short, timed rounds.Fishbowl discussionA few people talk in an inner circle while everyone else listens from around them; listeners can step in by taking an empty chair, so a large group can hold one real conversation.1-2-4-AllEveryone thinks alone, then in pairs, then in fours, then the whole group shares — so every person contributes and the best ideas rise in about twelve minutes.

Every method →

Try Meetful

Meetings that take their own notes

Free video meetings in the browser: every line of the transcript under the name of who said it, and the summary and action items when you hang up. Nothing to install — guests just open the link.

Try Meetful freeSee what it does