What is News Magazine retrospective?
Imagine each agile sprint as an issue of a newspaper or magazine. Each one has its own set of stories, headlines, topics, controversies, celebrations and important information to share.
Taking this idea into your retrospective turns your team into publishers and storytellers. It’s a simple, creative and engaging way to ask people to reflect on the last sprint as they head into the next. As the team moves from one issue to another, they can improve on the previous version.
News Magazine retrospective format
Headlines
What do we want to tell everyone? What key information would you want to share?
Current Issues
What topics are important and relevant? What is your attention at the moment?
Fake News
What assumptions turned out to be false? What truths did we discover?
Quotes
What would be a quote for the last sprint? How would you describe the last iteration as a quotable quote?
Next Issue
What ideas do we have for the next sprint? What should we cover in the next round?
Suggested icebreaker questions for the News Magazine retrospective
- What was something you last read about in the news?
- Magazines are simply commercialized comics – do you agree?
- What is your favorite quote?
- If you could be famous for something, what would it be?
Retro warm up
In a world of fake news, how would you determine and know what to believe? Have teams generate their own news story and headline by making it fake, or real and see if people can work out what the truth is.
Ideas and tips for the News Magazine retrospective
- Have people add reactions to their favorite headlines or stories. They can then share why. This is a great way to see where the consensus in the room lies.
- Time box each step of the retrospective to keep the process flowing, on track and at the right energy.
- Ask the team how they can report back on the next sprint. What other information can they capture that would make this retrospective even better next time.
- Rotate the role of facilitator. Changing the role can break the routine so perhaps have each person facilitate a different “category” just like they would rotate presenters.
- Make the most of your presentation mode and drill down into ideas at the brainstorming, grouping as well as discussion stages of your retrospective.
- Help people bring focus to the room with an icebreaker.
- Close the retrospective by asking the team how they would describe their own team as a single-sentence “quote”.
How to run a News Magazine retrospective in TeamRetro
Start Your Session in a Click
Log into TeamRetro and choose your template. Customise questions and the workflow to create your perfect retro for your team.
Create Your Team Easily – No Separate Accounts Needed
Brainstorm Individually – Free From Bias
Smart Grouping for Faster Insights
Fair, Flexible, and Fast Voting
Engage, React, and Capture Key Insights
Walk your team through ideas one by one with Presentation Mode. Stay in sync, spark real-time discussions, and capture feedback with comments, live reactions, and polls—all in one place.
Turn Ideas Into Action
Propose next steps with team buy-in, get AI-powered action suggestions, and keep everything in one place. Committed actions sync to your personal dashboard and integrate with your workflow tools—keeping you on track.
Save, Share, and Stay on Track
Get quick AI-powered summaries, add facilitator notes, and store retrospectives in your library for easy access. Schedule your next session and track published actions to keep your team accountable at the next retro.
Turn Team Data into Actionable Insights
Uncover trends, common themes, and key engagement metrics at a glance. Track sentiment shifts, analyze conversations, and monitor completed actions to drive continuous improvement.