Start, Stop, Continue, More of, Less of Wheel

Use:
Obtain feedback on team process in order to learn what should be continued and what should be adjusted as the team moves forward. Is a fast way to conduct a “meta” process discussion. Length of Time: 10 minutes for smaller groups to 25 minutes for larger groups. Length also depends on the amount of time being retrospect.

Short Description:
The facilitator captures team open-ended feedback using a wheel that encourages team members to assess an iteration or milestone using 5 categories. Allow some time following completing the “wheel” to discuss and agree on specific changes to implement.

Materials:
Marker, flip chart paper.

Process:

 * 1) Draw a circle on a poster, divide it into 5 sections and write the words "start", "stop", "continue", "more of" and "less of" around each section.
 * Ask: What should we start doing that perhaps we haven't done yet? What should we stop doing, that's not contributing or is getting in our way? What is working that we want to continue to do? What should we do more of? Less of?"
 * 1) Encourage comments in any category. Clarify what category the comment belongs in, and record the comment (or summary of it) on the poster. Use silence - wait for comments.

Variations: For large groups (9 or more) doing a retrospective of a large milestone, iteration or whole project: divide into subgroups to focus on one aspect of the iteration or project such as testing, requirements, customer involvement, and so forth. Encourage participants to form cross-functional subgroups (so different roles are represented in each subgroup). Each subgroup creates a poster, as depicted above, in eight minutes. Next, ask everyone to move around the room, reading the various posters silently. All together in a plenary discussion, allow people to speak additions to other wheels (and they are added to the posters). Finally, decide specific actions to take for the next iteration, milestone, or project.

Source:
Ellen Gottesdiener, EBG consulting ©2004

Diana Larsen, http://www.futureworksconsulting.com and participants in the Annual Retrospective Facilitators Gathering. Permission granted to reproduce these materials with the copyright data intact.