Templates · Team & mood
ESVP (Explorers, Shoppers, Vacationers, Prisoners)
A check-in where each person says, anonymously, in what frame of mind they come to the retrospective.
- Explorers Want to discover new ideas and insights
- Shoppers Look at what is on offer and want to leave with at least one useful idea
- Vacationers Are not interested in retrospectives, but like a break from the daily grind
- Prisoners Feel forced to attend and would prefer doing something else
What it is
Four columns, four attitudes towards the meeting that is about to start, from the explorer who wants to discover something to the prisoner who feels forced to attend. Each person places one card in the column that describes them today. It is a check-in, not a retrospective: it says nothing about the sprint.
Goal
The facilitator and the team know how much the group is willing to put into the session, and adjust the session, or the retrospectives themselves, to what they see.
When to use it
With a team you do not know yet. When participation is dropping, or when you suspect that the retrospective is seen as a chore. It takes a few minutes, as a short session of its own before the retrospective proper.
When to pick another format
The four words are blunt, and nobody writes “prisoner” under their own name: without anonymity, or in a group so small that people can guess who wrote what, skip it. If what you doubt is whether people dare to speak, not whether they want to be there, run a Safety Check. At the start of a project, Hopes and Fears opens the conversation with more substance.
How to run it
Turn on Anonymous cards when you create the retro. Explain the four words, say that every answer is acceptable, and ask each person for one card in their column, with a line on why.
- Explorers. Here to discover new ideas.
- Shoppers. Content to leave with one useful idea.
- Vacationers. Glad of the break, and expecting little more.
- Prisoners. Would not be here if they had the choice.
There is nothing to vote on. Count each column aloud and ask the group what it makes of the result. With mostly Explorers and Shoppers, go on as planned. With many Vacationers, shorten the session and aim for one concrete outcome. With many Prisoners, set the plan aside and ask what would make this meeting worth their time; Lean Coffee lets the group choose the topics itself.
Columns
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Explorers | Want to discover new ideas and insights |
| Shoppers | Look at what is on offer and want to leave with at least one useful idea |
| Vacationers | Are not interested in retrospectives, but like a break from the daily grind |
| Prisoners | Feel forced to attend and would prefer doing something else |
To start a retrospective from this template, see Create a retro.