How to Run a Sprint Retrospective with an Online Whiteboard

Written by Greg Ives

Creator of Jotboard

A step-by-step guide for agile teams on running effective sprint retrospectives using an online whiteboard, with popular formats and practical tips.

What is a Sprint Retrospective?

A sprint retrospective is a regular meeting where a team looks back at a recent sprint, identifies what went well, what did not, and agrees on specific improvements for the next cycle. It is one of the most valuable rituals in agile development — but only if people actually speak up and the outcomes are captured clearly.

An online whiteboard makes retrospectives far more effective. Instead of a facilitator typing into a shared document while others talk, everyone can add their thoughts simultaneously without requiring names. The result is more honest feedback, fewer dominant voices, and a shared record that the whole team can return to.

Choosing a Retrospective Format

The format you choose shapes the conversation. Here are three of the most popular:

Start, Stop, Continue

Ask each team member to add sticky notes in three columns:

• Start — things the team should begin doing
• Stop — things that are not working and should be dropped
• Continue — things that are working and should be kept

This is the simplest format and works well for teams that are new to retrospectives or short on time.

Mad, Sad, Glad

Participants write what made them mad (frustrated), sad (disappointed) or glad (energised) during the sprint. This format surfaces emotional context that Start/Stop/Continue can miss, and it tends to generate more candid responses.

The 4Ls

The 4Ls asks the team to reflect on what they Liked, what they Lacked, what they Learned and what they Longed for. It is particularly useful after a challenging sprint or major project milestone where you want deeper reflection.

Setting Up the Board in Jotboard

Create a new board in Jotboard and add one slide per section of your chosen format. For a Start/Stop/Continue retro, set up three slides — one for each column — or use a single slide with the three sections laid out side by side if your team is small.

Use different sticky note colors to distinguish individual contributors without requiring names. This encourages honesty, especially for sensitive feedback. You can agree on a color key in advance (each person picks a color at the start) or keep contributions anonymous entirely.

Add a text box at the top of each slide with the prompt so everyone knows what they are responding to.

Running the Session

Silent writing (5–10 minutes): Start by asking everyone to add their sticky notes without discussion. This prevents groupthink and ensures quieter team members contribute as much as louder ones.

Read-aloud and cluster (10–15 minutes): Go through each slide together. Read out the sticky notes, discuss any that need clarification, and group similar ideas by dragging them together. Jotboard’s real-time collaboration means the facilitator and participants can move notes simultaneously.

Vote on priorities (5 minutes): Use a simple dot-voting method: ask each person to place a small marker next to their top one or two items across the board. The clusters with the most votes become the focus for discussion.

Define actions (10 minutes): On a final “Actions” slide, write down specific, owner-assigned actions that the team commits to in the next sprint. Vague commitments like “improve communication” are not useful — aim for something specific, like scheduling a 15-minute daily check-in starting next Monday with a named owner.

After the Retro

Because Jotboard boards persist, your retrospective record is always there to revisit. Before the next sprint planning session, open the previous retro board and check whether the agreed actions were completed. This closes the feedback loop and keeps the retrospective from feeling like a box-ticking exercise.

For teams running regular retrospectives, keeping all your retro boards in a dedicated folder makes it easy to spot trends over time — recurring friction points, improving morale, or the same actions getting missed sprint after sprint.

Start your next retrospective on Jotboard — it is free for up to 5 collaborators and takes seconds to set up.