by Stride ConsultingLobby
everyoneThe facilitator shares one link, and the room fills in. Teammates land in the lobby, presence lights up name by name, and the session waits until the team is actually together.
- One URL is the whole invite
- Presence shows who's arrived
In use at
The session, end to end
Eight stages, dealt one on top of the other
Prime Directive
facilitator readsBefore anyone writes a word, the room agrees the session is blameless: everyone did the best job they could with what they knew at the time. The retro examines the system, not the people.
- Read aloud, agreed together
- Sets the tone before any writing
Ideas
everyone, at onceEveryone writes simultaneously — observations, frustrations, wins — each note landing on the shared board anonymously as it's submitted. Nobody waits for a turn and nobody signs their name, so the quiet voices contribute as much as the loud ones.
- Notes land anonymous, never signed
- Parallel writing, no turn-taking
Grouping
everyone, draggingThe team drags related notes together, live and multiplayer — you can see everyone's cursors working the board at once. Themes emerge from the notes themselves instead of being imposed up front.
- Live multiplayer drag and drop
- Themes emerge, not imposed
Labeling
everyoneEach cluster gets a name in the team's own words. The labels matter: they become the agenda for everything that follows, so naming them is naming what the retro is actually about.
- Named in the team's own words
- Labels become the agenda
Voting
everyone, blindEveryone votes on which themes deserve the discussion time — and nobody sees anyone else's votes until the facilitator moves on. Early votes can't anchor the room, and the loudest voice doesn't set the agenda.
- Votes stay hidden until the reveal
- The count decides, not the volume
Action Items
facilitator capturesThe top-voted themes get the discussion, and the discussion has to land somewhere: concrete action items, each with a named owner. No owner, no item — that's the rule that keeps retros from becoming theater.
- Discussion follows the votes
- Every item needs a named owner
Closed
everyone's inboxClosing the retro emails the full list of action items — with owners — to every participant before they've left the call. The commitments leave the room with the team, not with the tool.
- Emailed before the call ends
- Owners on record, in writing