Reflect, Learn, and Decide What’s Next
This retrospective template is designed for moments when a team reaches a natural pause, the end of a phase, cycle, or piece of work, and needs to step back before moving forward.
Rather than rehashing everything that happened, the board focuses on three things that actually matter:
What we’ve learned so far
Surfacing real insights, surprises, and strengths worth keeping.
What we should have investigated earlier
Identifying missed questions, early signals, and gaps in understanding, without blame.
Tackling what’s next
Turning reflection into clear risks, smart first steps, and decisions that reduce uncertainty.
The structure helps teams avoid status updates and over-analysis, and instead have focused, outcome-led conversations that lead to small, testable actions.
Best used with:
Product, engineering, or cross-functional teams
End-of-cycle, phase, or discovery retros
Teams working in uncertainty or exploring something new
Facilitator tip: keep contributions concrete, limit voting to the most impactful themes, and leave with no more than one or two actions you’ll actually follow through on.
