The 5-Slide Retrospective

The 5-Slide Retrospective: a fast template that turns what went wrong into do this next.

9/8/20254 min read

A template that turns what went wrong into do this next

Retros often drift into blame or endless storytelling. This one does not. The 5-Slide Retrospective is a simple, repeatable format that captures facts, extracts lessons, and produces clear next moves in under 45 minutes. It works for campaigns, launches, events, sprints, or any project that left you thinking we can do better next time.

TL;DR: 5 slides, 45 minutes, no blame. Collect the facts, decide what to keep, name the friction, turn insights into one-page actions with owners and dates.

Why this works

Short and structured - just enough space to think clearly.
Future focused - the output is a shortlist of next moves, not a museum of mistakes.
Shared language - the same 5 slides every time make patterns obvious across teams.
Low lift - one person can prep it in an hour with screenshots and a few numbers.

When to run it

After a campaign or sprint finishes.
When a metric swings up or down and you want to know why.
After an incident or near miss that deserves a cool headed look.
At a regular cadence, for example, last Friday of the month.

Timebox to 45 minutes. Invite only the people who did the work plus a single approver.

Ground rules

No blame, no surprises. We talk about systems and choices, not personalities.
Facts first, opinions later. If it is not in the data or timeline, tag it as a hypothesis.
One owner per action. If two people own it, no one owns it.
Done means shipped, documented, and dated.

Paste these rules onto slide 1 and into the calendar invite.

Prep before the meeting - 30 to 60 minutes

Collect the facts - a simple timeline, the goals you set, and the final results. Grab 3 to 5 screenshots or charts that tell the story.
Send a 3 question form - What worked, what slowed us down, what should we do differently next time.
Draft the slides - use the templates below with your data and the best quotes from the form.
Share the deck 24 hours ahead - ask people to skim and arrive ready to decide.

The 5 slides

Each slide should fit on one screen. Keep bullets short. Pictures beat paragraphs.

Slide 1 - What happened

Timeline: a few key moments and dates.
Goal vs result: the target you set and where you landed.
Context: what else was going on that may have influenced the outcome. Tip: Add a small chart and a single sentence takeaway. Example: CTR rose but CPA rose faster because of limited audience size.

Slide 2 - What worked - keep doing

Wins worth repeating: channels, assets, messages, or rituals that pulled weight.
Rooted in evidence: a number, a screenshot, or a customer quote for each win. Tip: Aim for 3 items. If it is not worth repeating, it is not a win.

Slide 3 - What did not work - cut or fix

Friction points: bottlenecks, unclear ownership, flaky data, late assets, risky bets.
Cost of pain: add a rough impact such as hours lost or dollars wasted where you can. Tip: Name the system issue not the person. Example: No single approver led to 3 extra edit cycles.

Slide 4 - Insights worth carrying forward

What we learned: short statements that will still be true next month.
The evidence: link to the chart, test, or customer proof that backs it up. Tip: If you cannot apply it to two more projects, it is not an insight yet.

Slide 5 - Do this next

3 to 5 actions written as commands with owners and dates.
Status field for later: planned, in progress, shipped. Tip: Actions should fit inside the next sprint. If it is bigger, break it into a first slice.

Run of show - 45 minutes

0 to 5 min: Ground rules and objective for this retro.
5 to 15 min: Slide 1 walk through - facts and timeline only.
15 to 25 min: Slides 2 and 3 - capture keeps and friction. Park side debates.
25 to 35 min: Slide 4 - agree on 2 to 3 usable insights. Write them in plain English.
35 to 45 min: Slide 5 - decide the 3 to 5 actions, owners, and dates. Confirm exactly where they will live, for example the Now column on the team board.

End by restating the actions and posting the deck link in your team channel.

Templates you can copy

Use these as slide headings and starter bullets.

Slide 1 - What happened

Goal vs result: [number vs number]
Timeline: [date] [event] -> [date] [event]
Context: [factor outside our control]

Slide 2 - What worked

[Channel or asset] delivered [result] because [reason]
[Ritual or process] reduced [friction] by [amount]
[Message or offer] resonated with [segment]

Slide 3 - What did not work

[Bottleneck] created [delay or cost]
[Data or tool gap] led to [error]
[Ownership issue] caused [rework]

Slide 4 - Insights

When [condition], [action] outperforms [alternative]
[Segment] responds to [benefit or proof]
We should avoid [pattern] because [evidence]

Slide 5 - Do this next

Action - Owner - Date
Action - Owner - Date
Action - Owner - Date

Facilitation tips

Use a parking lot for topics that deserve their own discussion.
Ask for the smallest possible actions that move the metric or remove the friction.
If you are short on time, skip debate on slides 2 to 4 and invest your minutes in slide 5.
Record who will update the actions next week and where the status will be tracked.

Make it stick after the meeting

Post the deck and the actions list in your team channel.
Create the tasks on your board right away and tag the owners.
Book a 10 minute follow up in one week to confirm what shipped.
Store retros in one folder so patterns are easy to find later.

Why this makes you better

Teams improve when they reflect briefly, commit to a few changes, and then repeat. This template encourages that cycle. It reduces blame by focusing on systems and data. It reduces waste by trimming long debriefs to the essentials. It raises quality by capturing insights you can reuse on the next project. Most importantly, it creates momentum because every retro ends with a short list of owned actions that fit inside the next sprint. Do it a few times and you will see fewer surprises, faster decisions, and a steady lift in results.