If you feel it might be better to have team members submit their feedback anonymously, they can write out their notations on post-its and you can gather them before discussion. Really, this depends on the communication style of your team. Once your categories are all laid out on your template, you can either ask your team to quietly brainstorm for each one, or you can hold a group discussion. Then, take a few minutes to explain in detail what each category represents. You can use a white board and post-its for this, but we’d suggest using an easy-to-build online template ( like this one) to keep things organized.Īdd all of the categories you will be discussing to your template. Next, you’ll want to set up the template you’ll be using to capture your team’s thoughts. Your visual should include all of the elements you’ll be discussing in order to help facilitate the exercise.
If you don’t want to draw your own, a simple Google search of sample Sailboat Retrospective images can help you find more examples. The rough sketch below is a pretty standard depiction for this type of retrospective.
#Retrospective tools free
If you have quite a few people involved in your retrospective or you have a lot of issues and need a way to prioritize, this is an option.įeel free to get creative and add any aspects you feel would be beneficial to your retrospective. Some teams even scale their sails for bigger vs. Some Sailboat Retrospectives incorporate other aspects that fit into their vision such as the sun, which represents things that make the team feel happy or satisfied or, choppy waves to represent something the team feels anxious about. The risks or potential pitfalls of a project (areas of tension, bottlenecks, competition, etc.) Things that are slowing the team or project down or delaying progress (silos, areas of weakness, etc.)
Things that are helping the team glide along (team strengths, competitive advantages of your product, good communication, etc.)
The ultimate goal or vision for the team (where it’s headed) The team itself (or some teams prefer to make this the project) In a Sailboat exercise, there are traditionally five main components: Let’s look at a quick breakdown of the pieces involved: This technique uses the metaphor of a sailboat heading toward shore to help teams visualize their ship (team) reaching its ultimate destination (or ultimate goals). Usually the retrospective happens immediately after the completion of a project or sprint. It helps team members to identify what went right, what went wrong, and what improvements and changes can be made in the future. What exactly is a Sailboat Retrospective?įor retrospectives is a fun, interactive, and low-key way for your team to reflect on a project. Using the Sailboat Retrospective technique can help you achieve team cohesiveness using a fun, visual exercise that gets all of your team members on the same page - or should we say- boat. You know the term ‘smooth sailing’? Imagine you could apply it to all of your current projects and future sprints.