Retrospective Template: WWW

A nuanced take on the classic what-went-well format that adds a middle ground. Instead of a strict worked-or-didn't split, the team also captures what kinda worked — the partial successes and half-measures. That extra shade often holds the most useful insights, where small adjustments can turn a near-miss into a win.

Worked well

Clear successes to keep deliberately

Roman

Pairing on the payments module — two people can maintain it now

Maria

The Wednesday demo kept scope honest

Kinda Worked

Half-successes: the idea was right, the execution was not

Anna

Async standup helped, but blockers still surfaced late

Daria

The new ticket template is used by half the team

Didn't Worked

What failed and should not be repeated as is

Maria

Estimating in hours — everything took twice as long

Kirill

The shared on-call doc nobody updated

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What is the WWW (Worked Well) retrospective?

The WWW retrospective sorts everything from the sprint into three honest buckets: what worked well, what kinda worked, and what didn't work. The middle column is the clever part. Instead of forcing every item into a binary good-or-bad split, it gives the team room for the messy, partial outcomes that real work is full of. Those half-successes are often where the most useful improvements hide.

Worked well
Kinda worked
Didn't work

Worked well

List the clear successes, the things you would happily do again. Recognizing them helps the team protect and repeat its best practices.

Kinda worked

Capture the partial wins, the things that helped but fell short. This column sparks the richest discussion, since these items can usually be tuned into full successes.

Didn't work

Be candid about what failed or caused problems. Naming these clearly lets the team decide what to stop, fix, or replace.

Benefits of this retrospective

Simple three-column structure anyone can follow
The middle column captures nuance other formats lose
Encourages honesty without harsh judgment
Quick to facilitate, even for new teams
Highlights easy wins hiding in partial successes

How to run the WWW retrospective

Create a board in QRetro using the WWW (Worked Well) template.
Invite the team and give everyone time to add cards silently.
Group related notes within each column.
Pay special attention to the Kinda Worked column for improvement ideas.
Vote on the items the team most wants to address.
Convert the top topics into action items with owners.

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Other formats teams pair with this one — open any of them as a board in one click.

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