The Mad Sad Glad template is perfect for brainstorming new ideas.
After a sprint, it's helpful for teams to pause and reflect on their emotions. That's where the Mad Sad Glad retrospective comes in.
Mad Sad Glad is a widely-used technique for exploring your team members' emotions and encouraging them to reflect on how they feel after a sprint. This retrospective enables you to highlight positive emotions while addressing concerns and questions.
A Mad Sad Glad retrospective provides a structured framework for discussing emotions in a fast-paced, results-oriented agile environment.
To run a successful Mad Sad Glad retrospective:
1. Download the Mad Sad Glad ThinkHub template
2. Use the T1V app to send your template to your ThinkHub
3. Create 3 groups on your ThinkHub Canvas
4. Title your Groups: Mad, Sad, and Glad
5. Ask team members to jot down emotional highlights—what made them happy, sad, or mad—and send their notes to the appropriate group. This can be done anonymously, or you can ask participants to include their name on their notes.
6. Host a discussion, with the facilitator asking follow-up questions and taking notes.
Additional Tips: Encourage note-taking in a quiet space. Minimize Distractions—consider silencing phones to maintain focus. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers—the goal is to foster teamwork by helping each other better understand everyone's feelings. Stay on track—encourage discussing emotions, not just actions or strategies
Incorporating Mad Sad Glad retrospectives into your agile workflow can significantly improve team dynamics, fostering trust, morale, and engagement. This structured approach provides a valuable opportunity for teams to connect on a deeper level and drive continuous improvement.