What is the Energy Levels retrospective?

The Energy Levels retrospective shifts the focus from tasks to people. Instead of asking only what got done, it asks how the team felt while doing it. By mapping personal energy across the sprint, the team spots overload and burnout risks early — before they turn into missed deadlines or quiet quitting.

Fully Charged — high energy and motivation
Medium Power — steady, sustainable pace
Low Battery — drained, close to burnout
Sprint Energy — what fuels or drains the team

Fully Charged

Here people note the moments when they felt energised and engaged. Understanding what creates this state — interesting work, clear goals, real wins — lets the team deliberately create more of it.

Medium Power

This column captures a steady, comfortable pace: getting things done without strain. It's often the healthiest place to be, and worth protecting from creeping overload.

Low Battery

Low Battery is where fatigue, stress and signs of burnout surface. Naming these honestly is the first step to fixing the workload, expectations or context that drain people.

Sprint Energy

This column looks at the sprint as a whole: which activities, meetings or habits gave energy and which took it away. The patterns here guide concrete changes to how the team works.

Benefits of the Energy Levels retrospective

Detects burnout risks before they become serious
Puts wellbeing on the agenda alongside delivery
Reveals which work energises and which drains
Encourages honest conversation about workload
Helps balance pace across future sprints
Strengthens care and trust within the team

How to run an Energy Levels retrospective

Create a board in QRetro from the Energy Levels template.
Invite the team and set a safe, judgement-free tone.
Ask everyone to place cards reflecting their real energy.
Look for shared patterns across the columns together.
Discuss what drains the team and what restores it.
Agree on a few concrete changes to protect energy next sprint.