Retro format 10 of 27
Speedboat retrospective
Engines push the boat forward, anchors hold it back. Just two areas.
- 30–50 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
A short slot. The original Innovation Games exercise that Sailboat grew from, and quicker to run.
Also called: Speed boat retrospective
Facilitator tip
Put a rough number of hours on each anchor. The number makes the trade-off obvious.
The Speedboat board, drawn out.
2 areas: Engines, Anchors. Draw the picture on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Engines
Preview environments for every PR
2Anchors
Waiting in the security review queue
How to run a Speedboat retrospective.
About 50 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
6 min
Everyone writes engines and anchors.
- 3
Read out
8 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
Cut an anchor
11 min
For the top anchors: how much does each slow us down, and what would it take to cut it?
- 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 makes us go faster?
- What holds us back the most?
- Which anchor have we been carrying for months?
Your Speedboat 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
- 0:05–0:11Write silently · 6 min
- 0:11–0:19Read out · 8 min
- 0:19–0:24Group and dot-vote · 5 min
- 0:24–0:35Cut an anchor · 11 min
- 0:35–0:45Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:45–0:50Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Speedboat
Length: 50 min
Engines push the boat forward, anchors hold it back. Just two areas. A short slot. The original Innovation Games exercise that Sailboat grew from, and quicker to run.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:11 | Write silently | 6 |
| 0:11–0:19 | Read out | 8 |
| 0:19–0:24 | Group and dot-vote | 5 |
| 0:24–0:35 | Cut an anchor | 11 |
| 0:35–0:45 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:45–0:50 | 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 (6 min). Everyone writes engines and anchors.
- Read out (8 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.
- Cut an anchor (11 min). For the top anchors: how much does each slow us down, and what would it take to cut it?
- 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
- Engines
- Anchors
Prompts
- What makes us go faster?
- What holds us back the most?
- Which anchor have we been carrying for months?
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.
- 07
Lean Coffee
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 10
- Great remote
- 26
Perfection Game
- 30–45 min
- 2 to 10
- Great remote
- 04
Sailboat
- 45–60 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.
Speedboat retrospective questions
What is a Speedboat retrospective?
Engines push the boat forward, anchors hold it back. Just two areas. A short slot. The original Innovation Games exercise that Sailboat grew from, and quicker to run.
How long does a Speedboat retro take?
30 minutes at the shortest, and about 50 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Speedboat 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 Speedboat board?
2 areas: Engines, Anchors. For example, from a software team: Engines: “Preview environments for every PR”; Anchors: “Waiting in the security review queue”.
What team size is Speedboat 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 Speedboat?
Lean Coffee, Perfection Game, Sailboat. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.