If you're looking for a platform to run your sessions on, check out https://metroretro.io/ great multiplayer functionality and loads of templates to get you started if you don't want to make your own.
There are two that I like personally:
The WARP retro: I like this one simply because it has an Appreciations section. People get to thank one another for things they've done well and that's an underrated part of building a good team IMO. The Wishes part can be quite productive too, you get to hear what people think as an ideal state for the project.
The Sailboat Retro: I tend to use this one for deeper strategic retros, maybe for a team that hasn't done one in a while, as the outlook for the topics is a better fit for longer term objectives.
Also, are you using external facilitators? That can be great input to break the mold and have more effective retros.
We used https://scrumlr.io/ and https://metroretro.io/ for quite a while, before we switched to https://conceptboard.com/.
The first two were nice for simple retrospectives, but you were very limited to do anything else. But both were not really for tracking older boards. We have a separate documentation for that where we just save screenshots.
In Conceptboard I simply create a new board for every retrospective and have everything structured in folders. So it's not really a problem to look at an older retrospective.
Regards number 2 - we have a unique 'private writing' mode in Metro Retro that is perfect for not influencing others during the post-writing phase.
I agree with number 1 - it's difficult on a canvas-based format, we're still discovering the best ways to do that.
I hope a bit of self-promotion is allowed, when it's in the vein of answering the question.
We're building the next generation of digital whiteboard over at Metro Retro. It started life over two years ago as a agile retrospective tool, but the new version is being used by teams "for everything", and we're about to pass 500,000 signups with a very literal $0 marketing budget.
We've designed the experience beyond just sticky notes and text, and have some unique tools for brainstorming and facilitating creative sessions.
I'm always on the lookout for people who might want to try it out for their specific needs - like you wanting more creative brainstorming.
I'd be happy to give a personal demo if you want.
I started using Metroretro a few months ago and it's really nice, except for the ability to export retro items I think it covers everything you listed. Also it's free and it comes with some useful templates
Nice read. We are also a partly remote team and have some experiences. But this crisis made it almost impossible to meet each other and I had to search for some ways. Here is a good website for retrospectives: metro retro (this was created by a redditor and its completely free.)
Hi there, I'm the creator of https://metroretro.io which is a free, realtime collaborative whiteboard tool built primarily for facilitating retrospectives but can also be used as a general purpose sticky note simulator. It includes voting, grouping, comments and some other more fun features like confetti and emojis. There is a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtP1UUTvA3U
Cheers!
Take a look at https://metroretro.io/ it's free, loads of features and great for real time collaboration. You can also create any style of retro you need or start with a template and then customise that.
Hi
I'm the developer of https://metroretro.io which is a free retrospective app that gives you a free form canvas to layout sticky notes on as you see fit. It's primarily for retros but I also included two kanban templates as the tool is intended to be flexible beyond retrospectives. In fact, I manage my own backlog using these templates. There is a screenshot of my backlog in this blog post: https://metroretro.io/blog/how-we-use-metro-retro
You are free to create your own templates as you see fit using the "Build Mode" once you are on board. There is a limit of 50 zones (swim lanes) per board and no board limit per user. If you want something to simulate the simplicity of sticky notes on a whiteboard you might find it useful.
Hey all
I posted https://metroretro.io when I first launched it back in April this year. Since then I've added a few new features but the most signifncant is the new visual grouping feature. It allows you to visually group your stickies together and identify your retrospective themes. The group information is included in the exports for your achiving needs. This went live last week so if anyone of you are looking for a new (free) retro tool please check it out! Any feedback would be appreciated.
Cheers!