Retro format 09 of 27
Hot Air Balloon retrospective
A balloon: hot air lifts us, sandbags hold us down, storms are risks, the sun is what's going well.
- 45–57 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
A team that feels stuck. Like Sailboat, with a lighter tone and a spot for good news.
Facilitator tip
Read the sun first. A stuck team needs to hear what works before it can drop a sandbag.
The Hot Air Balloon board, drawn out.
4 areas: Hot air (lifts us), Sandbags (hold us down), Storms (risks), Sun (going well). Draw the picture on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Hot air (lifts us)
Design handed over a week early
2Sandbags (hold us down)
Manual QA on every release
3Storms (risks)
Two people out in the last week
4Sun (going well)
On-call was quiet for once
How to run a Hot Air Balloon retrospective.
About 57 minutes as written. Change the length in the agenda builder below and every step scales with it.
- 1
Check in
5 min
Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- 2
Write silently
8 min
Everyone adds notes to the four areas.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Start with the sun, then hot air, sandbags and storms.
- 4
Group and dot-vote
5 min
Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- 5
Drop a sandbag
14 min
Pick the top sandbags. Which one can we throw out this sprint?
- 6
Agree action items
10 min
Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- 7
Close
5 min
Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Prompts to put on the board.
Read one out when the writing stalls, or paste them next to the columns.
- What gave us lift this sprint?
- What is weighing us down?
- What storms do you see coming?
- What is going well that we take for granted?
Your Hot Air Balloon agenda, timed to your slot.
Fill in the team and the time. Copy the agenda into Confluence, Notion or Google Docs as formatted text, or grab the Markdown.
Length
- 0:00–0:05Check in · 5 min
- 0:05–0:13Write silently · 8 min
- 0:13–0:23Read out · 10 min
- 0:23–0:28Group and dot-vote · 5 min
- 0:28–0:42Drop a sandbag · 14 min
- 0:42–0:52Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:52–0:57Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Hot Air Balloon
Length: 57 min
A balloon: hot air lifts us, sandbags hold us down, storms are risks, the sun is what's going well. A team that feels stuck. Like Sailboat, with a lighter tone and a spot for good news.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:13 | Write silently | 8 |
| 0:13–0:23 | Read out | 10 |
| 0:23–0:28 | Group and dot-vote | 5 |
| 0:28–0:42 | Drop a sandbag | 14 |
| 0:42–0:52 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:52–0:57 | Close | 5 |
How to run each step
- Check in (5 min). Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- Write silently (8 min). Everyone adds notes to the four areas.
- Read out (10 min). Start with the sun, then hot air, sandbags and storms.
- Group and dot-vote (5 min). Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- Drop a sandbag (14 min). Pick the top sandbags. Which one can we throw out this sprint?
- Agree action items (10 min). Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- Close (5 min). Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Board
- Hot air (lifts us)
- Sandbags (hold us down)
- Storms (risks)
- Sun (going well)
Prompts
- What gave us lift this sprint?
- What is weighing us down?
- What storms do you see coming?
- What is going well that we take for granted?
Last retro's action items
| Action | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
Action items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
Copy pastes as formatted text into Google Docs, Notion or Confluence. Markdown is for GitHub, Jira or Slack.
Try next, when this one gets stale.
- 17
Appreciation
- 15–25 min
- 2 to 10
- Great remote
- 04
Sailboat
- 45–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 07
Lean Coffee
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 10
- Great remote
Book the retro on a day the whole team is in.
A retro with two people out hears half the sprint, and its actions have no owners. Forgot shows sprints, holidays and time off on one board, so you can see who's out on retro day before you send the invite.
Hot Air Balloon retrospective questions
What is a Hot Air Balloon retrospective?
A balloon: hot air lifts us, sandbags hold us down, storms are risks, the sun is what's going well. A team that feels stuck. Like Sailboat, with a lighter tone and a spot for good news.
How long does a Hot Air Balloon retro take?
45 minutes at the shortest, and about 57 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Hot Air Balloon remotely?
Yes, it works well on a video call. Set up the board on a shared whiteboard before the call, give everyone silent writing time with cameras optional, and use anonymous dot-voting.
What goes on a Hot Air Balloon board?
4 areas: Hot air (lifts us), Sandbags (hold us down), Storms (risks), Sun (going well). For example, from a software team: Hot air (lifts us): “Design handed over a week early”; Sandbags (hold us down): “Manual QA on every release”; Storms (risks): “Two people out in the last week”; Sun (going well): “On-call was quiet for once”.
What team size is Hot Air Balloon for?
2 to 20 people. With more people, split into groups for the writing and discussion, then bring the top topics back together.
What can I run instead of Hot Air Balloon?
Appreciation, Sailboat, Lean Coffee. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.