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| Criterion | ![]() Agile Starfish Retrospective | ![]() Agile Mad Sad Glad | ![]() Facilitation Alignment Mapping | ![]() Agile Start Stop Continue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued. | When a team's or workshop's mood needs to become readable, it structures emotional signals with little setup. It makes strain, relief, and sources of energy tangible. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | When a team wants to deliberately adjust its working behavior, it makes habits visible and assessable. It focuses on concrete changes instead of diffuse mood. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-60 min | 1-2 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 3-10 | 4-12 | 3-12 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments | Emotion Board, Themes, Action Items | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Start Stop Continue Board, Improvement Actions |
Tagsno overlap | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam | RetrospectiveTeamReflection | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | RetrospectiveImprovementTeamReflection |



