How to Run Effective Retrospectives with ClickUp

Retrospectives help teams improve after every sprint, and ClickUp gives you everything you need to organize, document, and track those improvements in one place. This how-to guide shows you how to adapt proven retrospective templates from Miro into a practical, repeatable workflow inside ClickUp.

Why Bring Miro Retrospectives into ClickUp?

The original Miro retrospective templates focus on visual collaboration. When you move the same structure into ClickUp, you add tracking, ownership, and automation on top of that collaboration.

Using your work hub for retros lets you:

• Keep feedback, action items, and sprint tasks together
• Assign owners and due dates to every improvement idea
• Make retro outcomes visible across projects and teams
• Turn recurring retros into a consistent, measurable process

The Miro retrospective templates offer structures you can recreate step by step in ClickUp, so you capture the same insights while gaining better follow-through.

Step 1: Choose a Retrospective Style to Rebuild in ClickUp

Start by picking the retrospective format that fits your team from the Miro examples and then mirror its categories and flow.

• Classic Start–Stop–Continue: Simple three-column review of your sprint.
• What Went Well / What Didn’t / Ideas: Adds room for solutions.
• Team Health Check: Focuses on collaboration, trust, and morale.
• Remote or Hybrid Retro: Optimized for distributed teams and async work.

Once you pick the format, you will rebuild its sections using ClickUp views, custom fields, and tasks.

Step 2: Prepare a ClickUp Space or Folder for Retrospectives

To keep your process consistent, dedicate a part of your workspace to retrospectives:

1. Create a Space or Folder named something like “Sprint Retrospectives”.
2. Inside it, create one List per team or per project.
3. Within each List, create one task for every retro session (for example, “Sprint 23 Retrospective”).

This structure makes it easy to track history, compare past sessions, and link action items to their original retro task.

Step 3: Build a ClickUp Retro Template Task

Instead of starting from scratch every time, use a template task that mirrors the Miro board layout.

Design the Retro Layout in a ClickUp Doc

Inside your template task, create a Doc and outline the sections from your chosen Miro model. For example, for a Start–Stop–Continue style:

• Section 1: Start – New ideas to try.
• Section 2: Stop – Activities that cause friction.
• Section 3: Continue – Practices that work well.

Use headings, bullet points, and tables in the Doc to visually match the Miro layout. Team members can then type in their notes directly during the session.

Add Custom Fields in ClickUp for Retro Data

Recreate sticky-note properties from Miro using custom fields:

• Category (Dropdown: Start, Stop, Continue, or your custom labels)
• Theme (Dropdown: Process, Tools, Communication, Scope, etc.)
• Impact (Dropdown or number: Low, Medium, High)
• Effort (Dropdown or number: Low, Medium, High)

These fields help you filter and prioritize feedback later.

Step 4: Capture Feedback in ClickUp During the Retro

Now you are ready to run the session and enter data directly into your workspace instead of a separate board.

Use Subtasks or Child Tasks for Each Insight

For every thought a participant would normally add as a sticky note in Miro, create a subtask under the main retro task. Each subtask can store:

• A short, clear title describing the insight
• A description with context, links, or screenshots
• Custom field values (category, theme, impact, effort)
• Comments for discussion during and after the meeting

This structure gives you a focused, manageable list you can later sort and convert into action items.

Use ClickUp Views to Organize Feedback

To visually mimic a Miro board inside ClickUp, use different views:

• Board view: Group cards by the Category custom field (Start, Stop, Continue).
• List view: Sort by Impact or Effort to find high-leverage ideas.
• Table view: Quickly scan all custom fields across insights.

These views make the retro content easy to scan without leaving your project hub.

Step 5: Turn Retro Insights into ClickUp Action Items

A great retrospective ends with clear next steps. Use ClickUp to turn insights into trackable work.

1. Pick the most valuable ideas using Impact and Effort fields.
2. Convert those subtask insights into regular tasks or link them to existing tasks.
3. Assign owners, due dates, and priorities to each follow-up item.
4. Tag tasks with labels like “Retro Improvement” to track them across Lists.

This is where the combination of Miro-inspired structure and the power of ClickUp helps you close the feedback loop instead of losing ideas after the meeting.

Step 6: Create a Reusable ClickUp Retro Template

Once you are satisfied with your setup, save it as a template so every future session is consistent.

• Save your retro task (with Doc, custom fields, and views) as a task template.
• Name it clearly, for example, “Sprint Retro – Start Stop Continue”.
• When a new sprint ends, apply the template to create that sprint’s retro task.

This reduces prep time and helps your team focus on the conversation, not the setup.

Step 7: Track Retro Outcomes Across Sprints in ClickUp

Over time, you want to see whether your retrospectives are driving real improvement.

• Create a dashboard that surfaces all tasks tagged as retro improvements.
• Use widgets to show status breakdown, workload by assignee, and due dates.
• Filter by team, project, or sprint number to spot patterns.

Because your retrospective data lives in ClickUp, you can measure how many actions are completed and how they influence your delivery metrics.

Tips for Remote Teams Using ClickUp for Retros

The Miro templates are well suited for remote teams. You can preserve that experience while taking advantage of your work platform.

• Let people add subtask feedback asynchronously before the live call.
• Use comments and @mentions to clarify ideas without long meetings.
• Record decisions and meeting notes right in the retro Doc.
• Use automations to notify team members when new retro tasks are assigned.

This way, distributed teams stay aligned without switching between too many tools.

Improve Your Retro Workflow Beyond ClickUp

Once your retros are working smoothly, you may want to refine your broader workflow, automation, and reporting practices. Specialist consultants like Consultevo can help you design processes that connect retrospectives with planning, execution, and continuous delivery.

Next Steps: Apply Miro Retro Ideas Inside ClickUp

The Miro retrospective templates give you dozens of ready-made structures for asking better questions and surfacing insights. By rebuilding those formats in ClickUp, you keep the same clarity while gaining ownership, accountability, and historical tracking.

Pick one template style, create your retro task template, and run your next sprint review directly in your workspace. As you iterate, you will craft a retrospective system that is lightweight, repeatable, and tightly integrated with your team’s day-to-day work.

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