Frequently asked questions

What's a retro?: “Retro” is short for retrospective. Software teams use them to reflect on recent work, identify where they can improve and — more importantly — generate action items that drive those improvements.
How much does Remote Retro cost?: Nothing. Every feature is free.
Who can use Remote Retro?: Anyone with a Google account can join a retrospective. Whoever creates the retro shares its link with the team.
Can people see who wrote which idea?: No. Ideas are anonymous. Your name is never shown on a note, and the author is not sent to anyone else’s browser either — so there is nothing to uncover by poking around. The one deliberate exception is an action item, which carries the name of whoever owns it, because an action item without an owner is not a commitment.
Is voting anonymous too?: Yes. Everyone sees how many votes a theme received and how many votes each teammate has left to spend, but nobody — facilitator included — can see which themes a particular person voted for.
How many people should participate?: Ideally no more than ten. Beyond that, participants check out because they feel they can go unnoticed. Keep the numbers low where you can.
How long should our retros be?: Budget about an hour per sprint retrospective. Less than 45 minutes and the team tends to discuss surface-level behaviors without reaching underlying causes; beyond 90 minutes, quieter teammates check out entirely. Longer timelines deserve more time — and breaks.
Our team is entirely co-located. Should we still use it?: It depends. With a large screen to show the board, Remote Retro speeds up idea submission, grouping and voting. Just be mindful that once you reach the action-items discussion, laptops should go away so people talk to each other.
Can I review past retros?: Yes. Your dashboard lists the retros you have taken part in, each with its action items, and every retro board stays readable at its original link.
What happens when a retro closes?: The facilitator closes the retro, which emails the action items to everyone who participated and marks the board read-only.