Form
Notion or wiki entry with period, participants, all stickies per column, top clusters, agreed actions (owner, date, success criterion) and status overview of previous actions.
RunsheetAgile
Start Stop Continue
ComplexityLow
Time30-60 min
Participants3-12
FormatWorkshop
MaturityCanonical
01
Preparation
What needs to be ready before start
Materials
Whiteboard or Miro with three columns (Start, Stop, Continue); stickies per person; timer; pre-read (period, highlights, metrics); shared note document for actions.
People / roles
One facilitator; 3-12 team members; one scribe for consolidation; optional external coach for mixed teams.
Pre-read
Time period clear (for example last sprint, quarter, project); short status recap (metrics, milestones); psychological safety as norm; previous retro actions with status.
Time needed
30-60 min
Setup
Three columns on wall. Pre-read 1-pager (10 lines, 2 min reading time). Rule: stickies silently and in parallel, no pre-discussion.
02
Core question
The one question this method answers
What should the team start, stop and deliberately continue to work noticeably better?
03
Flow
Marker: Minute
| Step | Duration | Action | Hint |
|---|---|---|---|
10-5 min | 5 min | Read pre-read, explain period and format. Rule: 1-3 stickies per column per person, concise, behavior-related. | Behavior-related means: what do we do, not "better communication". "Limit Daily to 15 min" is behavior, "more clarity" is not. |
25-20 min | 15 min | Silent work: each person writes 3-9 stickies across three columns. Then read out round-robin, cluster similar ones. | Silent work prevents dominance. Discussing during collection influences others and loses depth. |
320-35 min | 15 min | Form clusters, dot-vote (2 dots per person). Discuss top 2-3 clusters per column: why and what would be smallest action. | Voting focuses. Without voting, discussion fragments. If spread is hard, that is information; either double-vote or sponsor decides. |
435-50 min | 15 min | Formulate actions: maximum 5 actions, each with owner, date and success criterion. Who owns, what becomes visible in 14 days. | 5 is upper bound, not quota. Better 2 real actions than 7 halfhearted ones. Owner must be present or have agreed. |
550-60 min | 10 min | Review previous retro actions: done, stopped, running. Make commitment culture visible. Fix next retro date. | Without status review of previous retro, actions are ritually agreed and forgotten. Visibility creates discipline. |
04
Artifact
What comes out at the end
Versioning / ownership
One entry per retro in series. Link previous retros, log action status transitions. Quarterly pattern analysis (which Stop topics recur).
Tool alternatives
- Miro or FigJam with retro template
- Notion database with retro series
- TeamRetro or EasyRetro for structured online sessions
- Whiteboard photo plus Markdown notes
start-stop-continue-working-template.md
Compact working template for Start Stop Continue with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.
Start Stop Continue Canvas
Context
What is this method used for?
Core question
Which question should be answered at the end?
Input
Which data, observations, or materials are available?
Working area
- Area 1:
- Area 2:
- Area 3:
- Relationships / patterns:
Output artifacts
- Start Stop Continue Board:
- Improvement Actions:
Open questions
- ...
Next step
Owner, date, success signal.
05
Example output
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
start-stop-continue-beispiel.md
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
Start-Stop-Continue — Team Discovery, Sprint 23 (2026-05-15, 50 min, 7 people)
Start (top clusters):
- Async refinement in shared doc 24 h before appointment (cluster from 5 stickies).
- Pair programming for critical stories (cluster from 3).
Stop:
- Standup on Zoom with 9 people without clear order (cluster from 4).
- Merge PRs without description (cluster from 3).
- "Quick sync" interruptions in Slack DMs (cluster from 3).
Continue:
- Demo on Wednesday with real users (cluster from 5).
- Run postmortems blameless (cluster from 4).
Actions:
- Refinement doc template + slot 24 h before appointment (Owner: @anna, success: 80% stories commented in advance, from Sprint 24).
- Standup format: Walking the Board, 12 min cap (Owner: @ben, from 2026-05-19, success: median <14 min).
- PR template with mandatory "What/Why/Test" in GitHub (Owner: @lisa, by 2026-05-21).
Previous retro status: 4 actions, 3 done, 1 stopped with rationale. Visible in wiki.
06
Pitfalls
Recognize symptoms and steer against them
Trap
Generic stickies
Symptom
"Better communication" or "More focus" land in Start, nobody knows what to do.
What to do
Force behavior. Every sticky must describe concrete action. If wish, ask "what would we do?"
Trap
Action inflation
Symptom
10+ actions agreed, none implemented.
What to do
Maximum 5, better 2. Actions with owner and success criterion. What does not fit top 5 is not for today.
Trap
Stop becomes blame
Symptom
Stop stickies target people, mood tips.
What to do
Rule: Stop targets behavior or practice, not person. Facilitator interrupts and reframes. If real personnel topic, handle differently.
Trap
No status review
Symptom
Previous actions are not checked, new actions feel consequence-free.
What to do
Status review as fixed 10 min. Visibility of completion creates commitment culture.
Trap
Discussion before voting
Symptom
First voice pulls discussion, voting becomes obsolete.
What to do
Strictly: first silent stickies, then round-robin readout, then dot-voting, then discussion. Sequence is method core.
07
Stop criteria
Done signals checkable in under a minute
Psychological safety missing, team does not dare name honest Stops.
External escalation (crisis) dominates, retro slot becomes symptom conversation without actions.
Time period unclear or too long (>3 months), memory fades.
Actions from previous retros are not implemented, trust in format drops.
Team newly assembled, relationship-oriented formats (for example Mad-Sad-Glad) are more appropriate first.
Team larger than 12 people, format becomes unmanageable; split or choose larger setup.
Finished the runsheet?
Go to the profile for purpose, similar methods, and sources or continue to the next method in the catalog.