Templates · Themed & fun

Speed Car

Two columns, what makes the team faster and what slows it down, for a short retro that still ends with a decision.

What it is

The team is a racing car. The engine pushes it forward, the parachute opened behind it holds it back. The board has those two columns and one question in each: what makes us move faster, and what is slowing us down.

Goal

One thing that speeds the team up, to be done more deliberately, and one brake to release. With two columns the session is short, so the value lies in leaving with a decision and not with a list.

When to use it

Speed Car suits a short slot, a first retro with a team that has never held one, and a large group, where more columns would bring more cards than anyone can discuss. It fits best when pace is what the team is talking about anyway: work that waits, hand-offs, interruptions.

When to pick another format

The board asks about speed and nothing else. A team can go fast in the wrong direction: Sailboat keeps the same picture and adds the rocks ahead and the destination. When the mood is the subject, take Mad, Sad, Glad. When the parachute column tends to fill with complaints and no proposals, Start, Stop, Continue asks for behaviours from the start.

How to run it

1. Engine: ask what made the team move faster in the period. Ask for something that can be named and repeated: a habit, a tool, a decision, someone’s help.
2. Parachute: ask what slowed the team down. Ask for what was seen, a review that waited or a release put off, not for general truths.

Group the cards that say the same thing and vote on the parachutes. For the ones on top, ask whether the team can cut the parachute or only make it smaller, and write the action. Some parachutes are held by someone outside the team: write who will raise the matter, and with whom. Finish by choosing one engine to strengthen, so that the session does not end on the brakes alone.

Columns

To start a retrospective from this template, see Create a retro.