👑 Coup Conspiracy
Step into a world of strategy and intrigue! In this coup-inspired retro, plot your way to project victory. Collaborate on moves to gain influence, eliminate blockers, and protect your team's mission as agile agents of change.
Template Columns
🕵️♂️ Undercover Tactics to Start
Reveal clever strategies and new initiatives we should begin to outmaneuver project challenges.
Base column: Start🚫 Expose Weak Links to Stop
Identify practices or obstacles we need to eliminate to prevent sabotage in our workflow.
Base column: Stop🎩 Trusted Alliances to Continue
Highlight the proven moves and teamwork we must maintain to preserve our advantage and success.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Coup Conspiracy retrospective brings a playful, strategic twist to team reflection, encouraging members to devise bold new strategies, eliminate blockers, and reinforce what works best.
When to use this template
Use this format when your team is facing complex challenges, needs to shake up routine retros, or wants to re-energize engagement with a novel approach.
How to facilitate
Set the tone by introducing the theme and explaining how the metaphor relates to team improvement.
Briefly review the column meanings so everyone understands how to frame their insights as strategies, obstacles, or alliances.
Invite team members to add their thoughts anonymously to each column for several minutes, encouraging creative language and ideas.
Facilitate discussion by exploring the undercover tactics the team could initiate, drawing out potential experiments or process changes.
Investigate the weak links by identifying patterns or critical blockers, and align on what to eliminate or change.
Highlight trusted alliances by noting effective collaborations or habits, ensuring the team recognizes strengths worth preserving.
Prioritize action items by voting or consensus, forming a shortlist of what to start, stop, and continue.
End with a quick recap and ask for feedback on the retro experience to improve future sessions.
Pro Tips
Lean into the conspiratorial theme to fuel creative, out-of-the-box thinking and lighten the mood.
Encourage everyone to contribute at least one idea in each column—even quiet team members—by allowing anonymous input.
Reframe blockers as 'saboteurs' to help the team see them from a fresh perspective and drive focused problem-solving.
Rotate the facilitator or co-facilitate with another team member to keep the energy dynamic.
FAQ
How do I keep the theme relevant but not distracting?
Use light references and set the scene at the start, but focus on drawing actionable insights from the metaphor in each column.
What if team members struggle to come up with 'tactics' or 'alliances'?
Prompt with examples, such as a new daily standup structure as a tactic, or a reliable code review process as an alliance.
How do I avoid the retro becoming too negative in the 'Expose Weak Links' column?
Balance the conversation by celebrating alliances and ending on constructive actions, and remind the team it's about improvement.
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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