Starfish

A format that encourages nuanced feedback by asking the team what to keep doing, do more of, do less of, start doing, and stop doing.

How to Run This Retrospective

Set Up the Board: Create five columns to guide the conversation: 'Keep Doing', 'More Of', 'Less Of', 'Start Doing', and 'Stop Doing'.
Brainstorming - Keep Doing: Ask the team to add cards for practices that are working well and should be continued as they are.
Brainstorming - More Of: Here, the team should add cards for activities that are valuable and should be done more often or with more intensity.
Brainstorming - Less Of: This column is for activities that are not providing much value or are becoming inefficient. Encourage the team to add cards for these.
Brainstorming - Start Doing: The team should add cards with new ideas, processes, or tools that they believe should be introduced.
Brainstorming - Stop Doing: This column is for things that are actively harming the team's productivity or morale and should be eliminated.
Facilitate the Discussion: Guide the team through a discussion of the cards in each column. Use drag-and-drop to group similar items and identify patterns. The goal is to get a detailed picture of the team's processes.
Create an Action Plan: Formulate clear action items, focusing on the 'Start Doing' and 'Stop Doing' columns. Also, consider how to adjust the activities in the 'More Of' and 'Less Of' categories. A dedicated 'Action Items' column can help track these commitments.

When you want to move beyond a simple 'what's working/what's not' discussion.
Great for teams that want to fine-tune their processes with more specific feedback.

Clearly explain the difference between each category, especially 'Keep Doing' vs. 'More Of' and 'Less Of' vs. 'Stop Doing', to ensure nuanced feedback.
The 'Less Of' category can be tricky. Prompt the team to think about activities that are good in moderation but have become excessive or inefficient.
As with other formats, ensure the 'Stop Doing' section remains focused on processes and tools, not on blaming individuals. Maintain a constructive and safe environment.