💧⚡ Hydropower Flow
Harness the energy of agile like a hydropower plant! Let’s channel our teamwork into a powerful current—spot the blockages, build momentum, and keep the turbines of progress spinning smoothly.
Template Columns
🚀 Open the Floodgates (Start)
Suggest new initiatives or actions that could increase our project’s power, just like opening new water channels.
Base column: Start🛑 Unclog the Turbines (Stop)
Identify practices or obstacles that are blocking our flow and need to be removed, just like clearing debris from the turbines.
Base column: Stop🔄 Keep the Current Flowing (Continue)
Highlight effective habits or successes that keep our energy strong and should be sustained, much like consistent water flow.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Hydropower Flow retrospective channels team agility into momentum by focusing on actions to start, blockages to remove, and strengths to sustain.
When to use this template
Use this format when you want to energize your team, remove obstacles, and kickstart new initiatives—especially after a sprint with mixed results or visible process slowdowns.
How to facilitate
Begin with a quick introduction to the hydropower metaphor, encouraging everyone to think about flow, blockages, and energy within the team.
Set a focused timer for individual brainstorming. Invite team members to add ideas to each column: new initiatives for Start, obstacles or blockers for Stop, and current practices that are working well for Continue.
Once all ideas are added, read out responses from each column. Clarify points where needed and encourage brief explanations.
Group similar items for clarity, then facilitate an open discussion to prioritize what must be addressed: which new actions are most energizing, which blockers are most urgent, and which positive flows are crucial to maintain.
Collectively decide on 2–3 clear action items based on the discussion, assigning ownership and follow-up for each.
Close with a quick reflection on the metaphor and any needed tweaks for the next session.
Pro Tips
Link each column back to the hydropower metaphor during discussion to keep engagement high and concepts clear.
Prompt quieter team members to share perspective, possibly by using the chat or anonymous board inputs at first.
During prioritization, use team voting to spotlight the most impactful items.
Capture examples of past 'blockages' and 'flows' to help the team build pattern awareness over time.
Encourage the team to think in terms of energy—what gives or drains it—when populating columns.
FAQ
How can we avoid the session just becoming a list of complaints?
Balance the energy: for every blockage raised, prompt for a solution or an offsetting positive practice. Emphasize the 'flow' and 'start' columns to generate momentum.
What do we do if many action items surface?
Use quick team voting or dot-voting to identify the top 2–3 items the whole team is energized to pursue, and revisit lower-priority items in future sessions.
How can we keep the hydropower theme relevant for recurring retrospectives?
Briefly revisit the metaphor each time, and encourage new team stories or analogies to keep the exercise engaging and fresh.
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At a glance
- Duration
35–50 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