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11 formats

Remote and Async Retrospectives

These formats work when the team can't all be in one room, or one time zone. Their columns make sense without anyone explaining them, so people can add notes over several days on their own, and the meeting, if you hold one, only covers the top few topics.

How to choose

Pick for what the team needs this sprint, then check that the columns make sense to someone reading the board alone.

  • A safe default. What Went Well needs no introduction, which matters when nobody is there to explain it.
  • Decisions without a long call. Start Stop Continue notes are already behaviors, so the top-voted ones can become action items in writing.
  • Tuning how you work. Starfish, KALM and DAKI all ask what to keep, add or change. KALM is the lightest, with four columns about more or less of something. DAKI has a Drop column for pruning. Starfish has five columns and suits teams who'll take the time to fill them.
  • After a release or phase. 4Ls is reflective and reads well in writing.
  • A gentle check-in. Rose, Bud, Thorn makes room for early ideas in its Bud column, and its Thorn column is softer than "what went wrong".
  • When distance is the problem. The Remote Team board asks what kept people connected, where communication broke down and how time zones got in the way.
  • Short and social. One Word and an Appreciation Round take 15 minutes and give quieter people an easy way in.

Running these async in Retro Rabbit

  1. Open the board when the sprint starts. People add notes when something happens: on the board, in the Team Room's Quick Notes box, or with /retro your note if your team uses Slack.
  2. Nudge once mid-sprint. Post a link to the board in your team chat. A board with three notes on day eight needs it.
  3. Vote two days before the end. Dot voting works the same whether people vote at 9 a.m. in Berlin or 4 p.m. in Denver.
  4. Group and summarize the day before. Drag related notes onto each other. On Pro AI (and during the free trial), CarrotIQ names the groups, writes a summary of each column, and suggests action items with CarrotIQ Suggest, weighted by votes.
  5. Decide in a short call or in writing. Agree on one to three action items with owners. They're waiting under Previous Retro when the next retro starts.

If the team spans more than about six hours of time zones, skip the call and decide in writing: post the top items and ask each proposed owner to accept or push back by the end of their day. More detail in how to run an async retrospective.

Frequently asked questions

Can a retrospective be fully async?

Yes. Notes, voting, grouping and action items can all happen over a few days without a meeting. Many teams still hold a 15-minute call to confirm owners, but it's optional.

Which retro formats work best for remote teams?

Formats with clear, self-explaining columns, because people often read the board alone. What Went Well, Start Stop Continue and 4Ls are safe choices; the Remote Team board is for when distance itself is causing problems.

How do we keep async notes from drying up?

Open the board on the first day of the sprint, add a couple of notes yourself, and send one reminder mid-sprint. Reviewing last retro's action items at the start of each retro also shows people their notes lead somewhere.

More formats by goal

Try any of these with your team

Your team adds notes during the sprint, CarrotIQ groups and summarizes them and suggests action items, and unfinished items carry into the next retro.

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