Retrospective Activity
Mad, Sad, Glad
Standard Hard Popularity: 8
This activity:
- Good for teams working together for some time
- Focus on team morale
Introduction
This activity focus is on team member feelings with the purpose of creating a more positive team environment. Members are requested to share things that made them feel mad, sad, or glad during the period of reflection. When explaining this activity communicate the need for keeping notes abstract and not personal.
For the specific activity, the facilitator could use these points to describe the process:
- The Mad column is for actions and processes that have made a team member feel crazy.
- The Sad column is for actions and processes that made a team member feel disappointed.
- The Glad column is for actions and processes that a team member enjoyed while doing so, or feeling the positive impact they had.
Onboarding the team to the selected activity is important for a successful meeting. To learn more on what's needed to onboard your team to a retrospective meeting, read here.
Tips & Tricks
Keep the team's focus on the actions and processes that created these feelings. It is important to maintain the discussion at a team level and not make it personal.
Try to talk equally for all three areas and avoid focus on the negative Mad and Sad. This way the team can acknowledge the work already done.
Popularity: 8
The "Mad, Sad, Glad" activity is popular among Team O'clock teams. It seems that many teams trust this activity for their retrospectives.
Recap
Mad, Sad, Glad
Standard Hard
Mad
Things that are driving you crazy
Sad
Things that have disappointed you
Glad
Things that you enjoyed and feel happy about