Run a Start/Stop/Continue Retrospective
Facilitates a Start/Stop/Continue retrospective format with structured timeboxing and synthesis prompts. Built for Scrum Masters and PMs running simple, high-value team retros.
When to use this prompt
Use this when your team has 45-60 minutes for a retro and wants a format that is simple enough to run without experienced facilitation. You will need the sprint name and a rough sense of the team's dynamic (new, mature, distressed). The prompt provides a facilitator script and discussion prompts for each phase. It is especially good for teams new to retros because the format is forgiving. Do not use it when the team needs a deeper structural conversation (use prompt 38 for that) or when the same issues keep coming up in multiple retros without change; in those cases the format is not the problem, the team dynamics are.
The Prompt
You are a Scrum Master facilitating a 45-minute Start/Stop/Continue retrospective for a team of {{team_size}}. Produce a complete facilitator script with timeboxing, discussion prompts, and synthesis. Sprint name: {{sprint_name}} Team context: {{team_context}} Known recurring issues: {{recurring_issues}} Produce the retro script in this structure: 1. OPENING (3 min) - Welcome script - Psychological safety reminder (1-2 sentences) - Goal of this retro (specific to this sprint) 2. SILENT BRAINSTORM (7 min) - Ask each participant to write notes in 3 columns: Start (things we should begin doing), Stop (things we should stop), Continue (things that are working). - Rule: one idea per sticky, minimum 3 ideas per column per person. - Prompt script the facilitator reads aloud. 3. SHARE AND CLUSTER (15 min) - Each person reads 2-3 of their notes per column. - Facilitator clusters similar items on a shared board. - Give the facilitator 3 specific phrases to use when clustering. 4. DOT VOTE (5 min) - Each person gets 5 votes to allocate across all clusters (can stack). - Pick top 3 clusters for discussion. 5. DEEP DISCUSSION (12 min, 4 min each on top 3 clusters) - For each of the top 3 clusters, facilitate a 4-minute conversation with 3 prompts: (a) What is the root cause? (b) What would a first step look like? (c) Who would own it? 6. COMMIT AND CLOSE (3 min) - Capture exactly 3 action items, each with an owner and a due date. - One-word closing: each person says how they feel in one word. Facilitator cheat sheet: - What to do when one person dominates: use the phrase "Let's hear from someone we haven't heard from yet." - What to do when there are no volunteers for ownership: default to "Let me take this one for now, and we can re-assign next sprint if someone wants it." - What to do when the team surfaces a recurring issue: acknowledge it explicitly and put it on the agenda for next retro.
Example Output
RETRO: Sprint 13 (Billing Team, 7 people) OPENING (3 min): Welcome everyone. Reminder: this is a blame-free space; we are looking at the system, not the individuals. Our goal today is to identify 3 concrete changes we will make in Sprint 14. SILENT BRAINSTORM (7 min): Prompt to read aloud: "Please take 7 minutes in silence. Write at least 3 ideas in each of Start, Stop, and Continue. One idea per note. Keep it honest; nothing is off limits." SHARE AND CLUSTER (15 min): After sharing, the facilitator clusters notes. Clustering phrases to use: "This sounds like the same thing as...", "Can we group these three?", "I'll put this next to... tell me if that's wrong." DOT VOTE (5 min): 5 votes each, stackable. Top 3 clusters selected. DEEP DISCUSSION (12 min) - Cluster 1: "Daily standups are running over" (4 min): Root cause? Likely too many people, too much detail. First step? Move to 2-min max per person. Owner? Facilitator. - Cluster 2: "Tech lead is bottlenecked on PR reviews" (4 min): Root cause? All reviews route through one person. First step? Pair two mid-level engineers as second reviewers. Owner? Tech lead. - Cluster 3: "We are shipping features without analytics" (4 min): Root cause? Analytics work treated as optional. First step? Add instrumentation to definition of done. Owner? PM. COMMIT AND CLOSE (3 min) - Action 1: 2-minute standup cap, starting Monday. Owner: Facilitator. - Action 2: Pair Mika and Tomas as second reviewers. Owner: Tech Lead. - Action 3: Update definition of done. Owner: PM. - Closing: each person shares one word.
Recommended Tools
Taskade has a collaborative retro mode with sticky notes and voting built in. Notion projects works for teams that prefer a document-based retro with comments. Monday supports retro boards with timeboxed columns that map directly onto the Start/Stop/Continue format. Use Taskade if your team meets live and wants visual interactivity; Notion or Monday if the retro is part of a broader project workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I use this prompt?
Use it for teams new to retrospectives or teams that want a simple, proven format. It is especially good for sprint retros where 45 minutes is the available time budget. Do not use it for quarterly retrospectives or project post-mortems, which need more time and different formats. Also skip it when the team has been running the same Start/Stop/Continue format for 6+ months; variety in retro format keeps engagement fresh and surfaces different kinds of insight. Rotate between this and the 4Ls format (prompt 35) every few sprints.
What if the team surfaces the same issues every sprint?
That is a signal that the format is hiding a deeper problem, not that the retros are working. When issues recur across 3+ retros without improvement, stop running Start/Stop/Continue and use prompt 38 (systemic issues from 3 months of retro notes) or prompt 39 (blame-free root cause analysis). Recurring issues usually mean the team has named a symptom but not the cause, or has named a cause but cannot address it without help from outside the team. In either case, the fix requires a different conversation, not another retro in the same format.