Mad, Sad, Glad Retrospective

An emotional check-in that surfaces how the team actually feels — before it becomes attrition.

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The board

MAD

What frustrated the team?

SAD

What disappointed you?

GLAD

What made you feel good?

Mad, Sad, Glad is a retrospective about emotions, not processes. It asks each person what frustrated them, what disappointed them, and what made them genuinely happy during the sprint. You'll also see it called Glad, Sad, Mad or Sad, Mad, Glad; the columns are the same, only the order changes.

Teams systematically under-report frustration in status meetings; it surfaces months later as burnout and attrition. This format gives negative emotions a legitimate, structured outlet — and anonymity is what makes it work. When cards carry no names, people write what they actually feel instead of what is safe to say.

When to use a Mad, Sad, Glad Retrospective

After a stressful release, incident, or crunch period
When you sense morale is slipping but nobody says anything in standups
Quarterly, as a team-health pulse alongside your regular process retros
When new members joined and you want to check how the team dynamic feels

How to run a Mad, Sad, Glad Retrospective

1
Set one ground rule
Before writing, say it out loud: feelings aren't debated. Nobody has to justify being frustrated, and nobody has to defend the thing someone else feels bad about.
2
Write about moments, not people
Ask for a specific moment behind each feeling: "Mad: requirements changed after we'd started building", not "Mad: the PM." Cards stay anonymous, so people can be honest without naming anyone.
3
Read the board before discussing it
Give everyone two minutes to read every card silently. A Mad card that five people quietly agree with is a different conversation from one person's bad day.
4
Ask what would change the feeling
For the top-voted cards, ask: what would need to be different for this to be a Glad card next sprint? The answer, not the feeling, becomes the action item.
5
Close on Glad
End by reading the Glad column. It reminds the team what's worth protecting and keeps an emotional retro from ending on a low.

Anonymous writing, voting, grouping and action items work the same as in any Retromik retro.

Read the full facilitation guide

Example cards

What good cards look like for a software team. Specific, about the work, never about a person.

MAD

Requirements changed twice after we'd started building.
The release was blocked for a day waiting on a sign-off nobody owned.
We were asked for estimates and then held to them as deadlines.

SAD

We dropped the accessibility fixes again.
Our designer left and nobody said a proper goodbye.
The demo got cut, so nobody saw the work we were proud of.

GLAD

Ops helped us roll back in ten minutes at 2 a.m.
The new joiner shipped their first feature in week two.
Customers noticed the faster search.

A 50-minute agenda

0–5 minState the ground rule: feelings aren't debated
5–15 minWrite cards silently about specific moments
15–20 minRead every card, then vote
20–40 minDiscuss the top Mad and Sad cards: what would change the feeling?
40–50 minAgree on actions, then close by reading the Glad column

Common mistakes

The facilitator explains why someone shouldn't feel that way. Once a feeling is argued with, people stop writing honest cards.
Actions target the feeling ("be less frustrated") instead of the cause behind it.
Running it every sprint. It works best after a hard stretch or as a regular check-in every few months.
Skipping Glad because time ran out. Without it, the retro reads as a list of complaints.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Mad, Sad, Glad retrospective?

It is a retrospective format focused on emotions: three columns collect what made team members mad (frustrated), sad (disappointed), and glad (happy) during the sprint. It surfaces team-health signals that process-focused retros miss.

Why does anonymity matter for Mad, Sad, Glad?

Because the format asks for feelings, not facts. People will rarely attach their name to 'I'm frustrated with how decisions get made.' Retromik keeps cards anonymous until a deliberate Reveal phase, which makes honest emotional input dramatically more likely.

How do you turn feelings into action items?

Group the highest-voted cards into themes, then ask 'what would need to change for this feeling to be different next sprint?' The answer — not the feeling itself — becomes the action item with an owner and a date.

How do you keep Mad, Sad, Glad from becoming a complaint session?

Ask for specific moments instead of general opinions, and steer every top card toward one question: what would need to change for this to feel different next sprint? Ending on the Glad column also keeps the session balanced.

Is Mad, Sad, Glad suitable for remote teams?

Yes — it is one of the best formats for remote teams, where emotional signals are hardest to read. Running it on a shared online board with simultaneous anonymous writing takes 45-60 minutes.