🌍🐜 Big & Small Perspectives
Let’s zoom in and out! Reflect on where tiny tweaks or major moves can improve our team’s journey. Every detail and big picture counts as we adjust our agile focus together.
Template Columns
🔍 Tiny Beginnings (Start)
Share small experiments or new habits we should start, no matter how little they seem.
Base column: Start🛑 Giant Roadblocks (Stop)
Identify the large obstacles or small annoyances we should stop encountering or repeating.
Base column: Stop🦒 Keep the Balance (Continue)
Celebrate what’s working—whether it’s tiny touches or grand strategies—and commit to continuing them.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Big & Small Perspectives retrospective invites teams to examine both minor details and major themes influencing their workflow, emphasizing actionable tweaks and significant shifts.
When to use this template
Use this format when your team needs to balance short-term improvements with long-term vision, or if you want to capture both day-to-day changes and broader strategic direction.
How to facilitate
Open with a brief check-in, encouraging everyone to think about both micro and macro aspects of their work.
Introduce the three columns and clarify the focus: start with small changes or habits, stop big challenges or recurring issues, and continue anything that sustains your team at any scale.
Set a quiet time for participants to add their thoughts to each column, aiming for a mix of big-picture and detailed examples.
Invite the team to review and discuss entries in each column, probing both tiny and significant items to understand their potential impact.
Group similar ideas and prioritize them as a team, determining which small experiments and major actions should move forward.
Agree on clear next steps for top priorities and assign owners or follow-up actions as needed.
Close by celebrating unique contributions from multiple perspectives and highlighting any shifts in your team's overall outlook.
Pro Tips
Encourage everyone to contribute at least one small idea and one big-picture insight per column.
Ask team members to connect small suggestions with potential long-term benefits to spark broader thinking.
Use timeboxing for each stage to ensure balanced discussion of both tiny tweaks and major moves.
Highlight links between incremental improvements and overcoming big roadblocks to create synergy.
FAQ
How do we avoid only focusing on small or big issues?
Prompt the team to look for both every time—if discussion skews one way, specifically ask about the other perspective.
What if the same roadblock keeps appearing?
Acknowledge recurring issues, and use this format to brainstorm both small steps and big changes that could address the root cause.
How can we keep the team engaged throughout?
Mix up the order of columns or invite personal stories about how tiny starts or big shifts have previously made a difference.
Is this format suitable for a remote team?
Absolutely—it's highly effective online with digital tools, especially when you encourage everyone to contribute visually and verbally.
At a glance
- Duration
40–55 min
- Team Size
4-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective