🔭✨ Astro Alignment
Chart our team's journey among the stars: discover bright ideas to launch, shadowed habits to eclipse, and steady orbits to maintain for a harmonious sprint.
Template Columns
🌠 Launch New Constellations
Identify fresh initiatives to start, like aligning new stars in our workflow.
Base column: Start🛑 Eclipse Bad Habits
Spot practices to stop, preventing them from darkening our progress.
Base column: Stop♾️ Keep Stellar Orbits
Continue the effective routines that keep our project in a smooth orbit.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
A space‑themed retrospective that surfaces new ideas, eliminates harmful habits, and reinforces effective practices for a balanced sprint.
When to use this template
Use when the team needs a fresh perspective on what to start, stop, and keep, especially after a milestone or when morale feels stagnant.
How to facilitate
Set the stage by reminding the team of the space metaphor and the three columns: Launch New Constellations, Eclipse Bad Habits, Keep Stellar Orbits
Give each participant 3–5 minutes to write individual observations on virtual sticky notes, one per idea, and place them in the appropriate column
Group similar notes together, then have a quick round‑robin where each person briefly explains the most important item they added
Prioritize items in each column using dot voting (e.g., three votes per person) to surface the top ideas to launch, the biggest habits to eclipse, and the most valuable orbits to keep
Translate the top‑voted items into concrete sprint actions: assign owners, define acceptance criteria, and record them in the sprint backlog
Pro Tips
Encourage participants to think in astronomical terms (e.g., “shooting star” for breakthrough ideas) to keep the metaphor lively and spark creativity
Limit each column to 5–7 items after voting to keep the action plan focused and achievable
Use a timer for each phase to maintain momentum and prevent discussion from drifting
FAQ
What if the team runs out of ideas for a column?
Prompt with guiding questions like “What new capability would help us reach our goals?” or use silent brainstorming for a few minutes to generate fresh thoughts
How do we handle dominant voices during the explanation round?
Set a strict timebox per person (e.g., 60 seconds) and remind the group to listen actively, using the chat for follow‑up comments
Can we combine this with other retrospectives?
Yes, you can run Astro Alignment as a focused segment within a longer retrospective, especially after a sprint review, to keep the energy high
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective