Retro format 06 of 27
KALM retrospective
Four columns about practices: keep, add, do less of, do more of.
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
A quick tune-up when nothing big went wrong. Softer than Start Stop Continue because nothing is stopped outright.
Also called: Keep add less more
Facilitator tip
Nothing gets stopped outright, so watch Less: it quietly becomes the list of things to stop. Name it when it does.
The KALM board, drawn out.
4 areas: Keep, Add, Less, More. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Keep
Small PRs, reviewed the same day
2Add
A rotating on-call buddy
3Less
Ad-hoc requests in DMs
4More
Demos to real users
How to run a KALM retrospective.
About 55 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 columns.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Each person reads their notes.
- 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
Discuss
12 min
Talk through the top clusters.
- 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.
- Which practice is working and should stay?
- What new practice should we add, even as a two-sprint experiment?
- What are we overdoing?
- What are we underdoing?
Your KALM 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
- 0:28–0:40Discuss · 12 min
- 0:40–0:50Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:50–0:55Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: KALM: Keep, Add, Less, More
Length: 55 min
Four columns about practices: keep, add, do less of, do more of. A quick tune-up when nothing big went wrong. Softer than Start Stop Continue because nothing is stopped outright.
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 |
| 0:28–0:40 | Discuss | 12 |
| 0:40–0:50 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:50–0:55 | 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 columns.
- Read out (10 min). Each person reads their notes.
- Group and dot-vote (5 min). Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- Discuss (12 min). Talk through the top clusters.
- 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
- Keep
- Add
- Less
- More
Prompts
- Which practice is working and should stay?
- What new practice should we add, even as a two-sprint experiment?
- What are we overdoing?
- What are we underdoing?
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.
- 01
Start Stop Continue
- 30–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 07
Lean Coffee
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 10
- Great remote
- 10
Speedboat
- 30–50 min
- 2 to 20
- 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.
KALM retrospective questions
What is a KALM retrospective?
Four columns about practices: keep, add, do less of, do more of. A quick tune-up when nothing big went wrong. Softer than Start Stop Continue because nothing is stopped outright.
How long does a KALM retro take?
30 minutes at the shortest, and about 55 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run KALM 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 KALM board?
4 areas: Keep, Add, Less, More. For example, from a software team: Keep: “Small PRs, reviewed the same day”; Add: “A rotating on-call buddy”; Less: “Ad-hoc requests in DMs”; More: “Demos to real users”.
What team size is KALM 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 KALM?
Start Stop Continue, Lean Coffee, Speedboat. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.