Start, Stop, Continue Retrospective by Laura Timmins
A perfect remote retrospective template to get teams thinking about what in their current workflow works well, what needs work, and what do they need to start doing.
This doesn't need to be used at the end of a sprint or project - it can be used when forming teams to determine the best way to proceed successfully. If you haven't run a retro before, there are instructions and recommended timings for each part of the activity, and an idea of what you should be ending up with once the retro is over.
Participants: 2 - 10+ (one facilitator needed).
Time to complete: 15 - 90 mins dependant on team size.
Steps:
Try and use an icebreaker before to get everyone warmed up and ready to share
Ask everyone to spend 5-15 minutes writing sticky notes with items for each of the Stop, Start, Continue areas.
Once this has been done, spend a few minutes grouping these into themes for discussion.
If there is a lot of themes, tell the participants they have between 3 and 5 votes each. They then can vote to decide which topics should be discussed further.
Spend a few minutes discussing each topic, and try to write down actions for each to take away and address.
Tips:
Try to encourage the team to be open and honest.
Ask members to use emojis to react or emphasise different topics raised.
Ensure actions are assigned to individuals to take away to address changes needed.
This template was created by Laura Timmins.
Get started with this template right now.
4 L's Retrospective Template
Works best for:
Retrospectives, Decision Making
So you just completed a sprint. Teams busted their humps and emotions ran high. Now take a clear-eyed look back and grade the sprint honestly—what worked, what didn’t, and what can be improved. This approach (4Ls stand for liked, learned, lacked, and longed for) is an invaluable way to remove the emotion and look at the process critically. That’s how you can build trust, improve morale, and increase engagement—as well as make adjustments to be more productive and successful in the future.
Lean Coffee: Meetings without Agendas
Works best for:
Agile
Lean Coffee: Meetings without Agendas is a collaborative meeting format that fosters open dialogue and emergent topics. Participants suggest discussion topics, vote on them, and engage in time-boxed conversations. This template provides a structured framework for facilitating Lean Coffee sessions, enabling teams to prioritize topics, share insights, and make decisions collectively. By promoting inclusivity and adaptability, Lean Coffee empowers teams to address issues efficiently and drive continuous improvement.
KWL Chart Template
Works best for:
Education, Brainstorming, Retrospectives
Sharing and learning new knowledge is the fuel in the tank of any ambitious team or organization. A KWL chart is a graphical organizer that powers the learning process. This easy template lets you design and use a KWL, with three columns: Know, Want to Know, and Learned. Then you and your team will fill in each column by following three steps: Take stock of what you know, document what you want to get out of your session, and finally, record what you’ve learned.
User Story Map Template
Works best for:
Marketing, Desk Research, Mapping
Popularized by Jeff Patton in 2005, the user story mapping technique is an agile way to manage product backlogs. Whether you’re working alone or with a product team, you can leverage user story mapping to plan product releases. User story maps help teams stay focused on the business value and release features that customers care about. The framework helps to get a shared understanding for the cross-functional team of what needs to be done to satisfy customers' needs.
Lean Canvas Template
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, Strategic Planning, Agile Workflows
Business opportunities can get dense, cumbersome, and complex, and evaluating them can be a real challenge. Let a lean canvas streamline things and break down your business idea for you and your team. A great tool or entrepreneurs and emerging businesses, this one-page business model gives you an easy, high-level view of your idea — so you can stay focused on overall strategy, identify potential threats and opportunities, and brainstorm the various factors at play in determining your potential profitability in an industry.
Lean Canvas Template
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, Strategic Planning, Agile Workflows
Business opportunities can get dense, cumbersome, and complex, and evaluating them can be a real challenge. Let a lean canvas streamline things and break down your business idea for you and your team. A great tool or entrepreneurs and emerging businesses, this one-page business model gives you an easy, high-level view of your idea — so you can stay focused on overall strategy, identify potential threats and opportunities, and brainstorm the various factors at play in determining your potential profitability in an industry.