RetroTool

RetroTool is an online team retrospectives tool designed by u2i to facilitate remote or hybrid team retrospectives. It is suitable for teams of all sizes, ranging from small startups to large enterprises. According to the vendor, RetroTool can help professionals in various industries, including Product Owners and Managers, Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters, Project Managers, Software Development Teams, and Marketing Teams, reflect on past work, identify areas for improvement, and create action plans for the future.

Key Features

Zero (click) waste: RetroTool ensures a streamlined user experience with minimal clicks required to set up a retrospective. Users can choose from ready-to-use templates or start with a clean slate to customize the retrospective to their team's unique needs. The tool offers a unique and secure URL for each board, allowing users to easily share the retrospective with their team without the need for login or distractions.

Ready to use templates: RetroTool provides a selection of ready-to-use templates to jump-start retrospectives. Templates like "Mad | Sad | Glad" help assess team health and well-being, while "Liked | Learned | Lacked" summarizes completed projects, and "Start | Stop | Continue" directs the team towards specific actions. Users can easily customize the templates by changing column names, descriptions, and engagement levels.

Familiar experience: like post-its on a whiteboard: RetroTool offers a familiar and intuitive user interface that mimics the experience of using post-it notes on a whiteboard. Each participant has their own Private Section where they can write their thoughts and ideas, ensuring privacy and avoiding biases. Participants can create cards by simply typing in the empty space and pressing Enter, with support for emojis and different card colors for different topics.

Prioritize topics with dot voting: RetroTool allows teams to easily prioritize topics by using dot voting. Participants can add or subtract points from cards to indicate their preference. Cards can be sorted based on votes, enabling teams to focus on the most relevant topics first.

Work on improvements thanks to action points: RetroTool emphasizes the importance of action points as the key outcome of retrospectives. Users can create action items, assign responsibilities, and set due dates to ensure follow-through on improvement opportunities. The tool provides a dedicated action points panel for easy management and tracking.

Fit the retro in a single meeting: RetroTool helps teams manage time boundaries during retrospectives. A built-in timer assists in time management during idea generation, voting, and creating action points. Setting time limits for specific parts of the retrospective ensures a productive and focused meeting.

Advanced facilitation tools (paid plans): RetroTool offers additional facilitation tools in its paid plans. Features like facilitator-only moderation, readiness check, and read-only mode enhance the facilitator's control and management of the retrospective. These tools enable advanced facilitation techniques for more effective retrospectives.

Customize your retro (paid plans): RetroTool provides customization options to enhance the visual appeal of retrospectives. Users can upload custom images as column backgrounds, use colors to match different areas, and apply filters for a personalized touch. The tool offers a wide selection of images from the Unsplash gallery to choose from.

Require names for a better discussion (paid plans): RetroTool allows facilitators to require participants' names for a more in-depth discussion. By asking for names, teams can directly engage with individuals who shared ideas and gain deeper insights. This feature is particularly useful for mature teams seeking meaningful and targeted discussions.

Use images for cards (paid plans): RetroTool offers the option to create cards with images for increased engagement. Users can paste images directly into a card or upload images from their computer, including GIFs. Adding visual elements to cards makes retrospectives more enjoyable and attention-grabbing.