🪐🔭 Space Investigation
Blast off into our project’s universe! Explore new frontiers, avoid cosmic debris, and keep our mission on course. Let’s uncover what we should launch, abort, or sustain for stellar teamwork and out-of-this-world results!
Template Columns
🚀 Launch New Missions
Suggest new strategies, tools, or habits our crew should initiate for smoother cosmic journeys.
Base column: Start🌑 Avoid Black Holes
Identify practices or obstacles we should jettison so our project doesn’t get stuck in space anomalies.
Base column: Stop🛰️ Orbiting Successes
Highlight the positive routines or achievements we must keep in our gravitational pull.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Space Investigation retrospective helps teams explore what mission strategies to launch, which barriers to avoid, and which successful routines to keep orbiting for stellar project outcomes.
When to use this template
Use this format after ambitious sprints, launches, or when the team faces complex challenges requiring both innovation and risk reduction.
How to facilitate
Welcome your crew and set the tone by sharing the space exploration theme, encouraging open-minded investigation and creativity.
Review the three mission columns: launching new ideas, avoiding unhelpful obstacles, and orbiting ongoing successes.
Allow each crew member to add their thoughts to each column individually, focusing on honest, constructive exploration.
Facilitate group discussion around the contributions in each column—clarify intent, merge duplicates, and surface underlying themes.
Guide the team to prioritize key action items: which new missions to launch, which black holes to avoid, and which successful orbits to maintain.
Document clear action steps and assign mission roles so everyone knows how to keep the project on course.
Close with a brief reflection on how this format helped broaden team perspective and fuel creative thinking.
Pro Tips
Leverage the space theme to spark imaginative thinking—encourage analogies to space travel and discovery.
Create an 'observation log' during discussion to track surprising insights or recurring obstacles.
Prompt quieter crew members with direct questions such as 'What black holes have you noticed that we haven't named yet?'
Timebox discussion for each column to ensure a balanced exploration without getting stuck in one area.
FAQ
How do we prevent the discussion from drifting off-topic with a creative theme?
Guide the team back to the column goals if conversation wanders, and remind everyone of the mission as facilitator.
What if new missions suggested seem risky or unrealistic?
Discuss the potential impact and feasibility openly—with the theme, you can frame risky ideas as pilot missions or experiments.
How do we keep the energy up for a longer, themed retrospective?
Use brief energizers or space trivia between sections, and actively encourage cross-talk and fun references to keep engagement high.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 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