Hopes and Concerns Retrospective Template
Also known as: Hopes and Fears · Hopes & Concerns
Say the worries out loud on day one, while they're still cheap to fix.
- ⏱ 30–45 min
- 👥 3–15 people
- 🧩 2 columns
- Free · no sign-up
Hopes
What do you hope will happen?
What you want to happen: outcomes, experiences, things you'd be proud of.
Concerns
What worries you?
What worries you: risks, unknowns, constraints, things that went wrong before.
What is the Hopes and Concerns Retrospective?
Hopes and Concerns is a two-column retrospective (or, more accurately, a 'futurespective') in which each person writes what they hope will happen and what they are worried about. It looks forward instead of backward, which makes it ideal for the start of something: a project, a quarter, a new team, a reorganisation or a major release.
The exercise comes from workshop facilitation and project kick-offs, where it is often called Hopes and Fears. Agile teams adopted it because it surfaces risks while there is still time to act on them, and because hearing a teammate's hopes is one of the fastest ways to understand what motivates them.
With only two columns it is quick to run and easy for anyone to join, including stakeholders who have never been in a retrospective. The real value is in the second half of the session: turning shared concerns into agreements, owners and early checks.
When to use Hopes and Concerns (and when not to)
✅ Use it when
- ▸ Project or epic kick-offs, before the first sprint starts.
- ▸ When a new team forms or several new people join at once.
- ▸ Before a big change: a migration, a new process, a reorg, a launch date.
- ▸ At the start of a quarter, to align expectations with stakeholders.
- ▸ As a mid-project check: have our concerns changed? Did our hopes come true?
⚠️ Avoid it when
- ▸ To review a sprint that just ended. It doesn't ask what happened, so use Start Stop Continue or 4Ls for that.
- ▸ When the team is already deep in a crisis. Concerns will dominate and the session can feel like a list of doom; address the crisis directly first.
- ▸ If decisions can't actually change. Surfacing concerns that nobody can act on erodes trust.
How to run a Hopes and Concerns Retrospective step by step
Total time: about 38 minutes for a team of 3–15 people. Adjust the timeboxes to the size of your team and sprint.
- 1
Frame the horizon · 3 min
Say exactly what you're looking ahead to: 'the next three months of the checkout redesign'. A clear horizon keeps cards concrete.
- 2
Silent writing · 7 min
Everyone writes hopes and concerns at the same time. Ask for at least two of each. Anonymous cards help people raise uncomfortable risks.
- 3
Read hopes, find shared goals · 7 min
Read the hopes and group them. Shared hopes are your team's real success criteria; write the top two or three somewhere visible.
- 4
Read concerns, cluster risks · 8 min
Group concerns into themes such as scope, dependencies, skills, time or people. Don't solve anything yet; just make sure each concern is understood.
- 5
Vote on concerns · 3 min
Three votes each, on the concerns that would hurt most if they came true.
- 6
Turn top concerns into actions · 10 min
For each top concern ask: how would we notice early? What can we do now to reduce it? Who keeps an eye on it? Capture these as action items or as risks to review at every retro.
Hopes and Concerns questions and prompts for each column
Read a couple of these aloud if the board stays empty after the first minutes of writing.
Hopes
- • If this goes really well, what will we be celebrating?
- • What do you personally want to get out of it?
- • What would make this the best project you've worked on?
- • What do you hope we do differently from last time?
Concerns
- • What keeps you up at night about this?
- • What has derailed similar projects in the past?
- • Which dependency are you least confident about?
- • What are we assuming that might not be true?
Hopes and Concerns retrospective example
A cross-functional team kicking off a three-month rebuild of their mobile onboarding. Here is what their board looked like at the end of the writing phase.
Hopes
- Activation rate goes up and we can prove it with data
- We finally delete the legacy signup code
- Design and engineering work together from day one, not in handoffs
- I get to learn the new animation library
Concerns
- The analytics events aren't reliable enough to measure success
- Marketing wants a launch date before we know the scope
- Only one person knows the legacy auth flow
- App store review could delay the release by a week
Action items they agreed on
- ☑️ Audit onboarding analytics events in sprint 1 before building anything (owner: Kim)
- ☑️ Agree with marketing on a date window, not a date, after the first spike (owner: PM)
- ☑️ Pair on the legacy auth flow and document it this month (owners: Raj + Elena)
Common mistakes and facilitation tips
Concerns without owners
A list of risks with no follow-up is just anxiety on a board. Every top concern needs an early warning signal and a person watching it.
Hopes that are too vague
'A successful project' tells you nothing. Ask 'how would we know?' until a hope becomes something you could observe.
Managers dismissing concerns
If a leader answers a concern with 'that won't happen', people stop sharing. Thank people for every concern and treat them as information.
Never looking back
Keep the board. Revisiting it halfway through and at the end of the project is one of the most powerful retrospectives you can run.
Variations and related templates
- Hopes and Fears: Same format with a stronger word; useful when you want people to name serious risks.
- Hopes, Concerns, Expectations: Adds a column for what people expect from each other, good for new teams.
- Genie in a Bottle retrospective template: A playful, wish-based way to look forward.
- Sailboat retrospective template: Adds wind, anchors and rocks to reflect on goals and risks with a visual metaphor.
Hopes and Concerns retrospective FAQ
What is a Hopes and Concerns retrospective?
It is a forward-looking exercise with two columns. Each team member writes what they hope will happen and what worries them about an upcoming project, quarter or change.
When should I run Hopes and Concerns?
At project kick-offs, when a new team forms, before a major change or at the start of a quarter. It is also useful to revisit halfway through a project.
Is Hopes and Concerns the same as Hopes and Fears?
Essentially yes. 'Fears' is a stronger word that invites people to name bigger risks; 'concerns' feels more neutral in professional settings.
How do you turn concerns into action items?
For each top-voted concern, agree on how you would notice it early, one step to reduce it now, and a person who keeps an eye on it.
Can I run Hopes and Concerns online for free?
Yes. Use the template on this page to open a Giftro board with both columns. Share the link and your team can join without an account.
Run your Hopes and Concerns retro now
Free, real-time and no account needed. Share the link and your team joins in seconds.
Related retrospective templates
Genie in a Bottle retrospective template
A playful wish-based retro: what would you wish for the team, for yourself and for others? Great for creativity and morale.
Sailboat retrospective template
Navigate your sprint with a nautical metaphor. Identify what's pushing you forward, what's slowing you down, risks ahead, and your shared destination.
4Ls retrospective template
Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for. A balanced retro that captures lessons and what's missing, not just problems.
Start Stop Continue retrospective template
The classic three-column retro: what to start doing, stop doing and keep doing. Fast, clear, action-oriented.
Mad Sad Glad retrospective template
Emotion-first retro: what made the team mad, sad and glad. Ideal after a stressful sprint or to check team morale.