Start Stop Continue retrospective template
Three columns that force every observation into a decision.
Also known as: Start / Stop / Continue, SSC retrospective.
Start Stop Continue asks the team to phrase feedback as a behaviour change rather than an observation. Because every card is already an instruction, the gap between "we discussed it" and "we decided something" mostly disappears — which is why it is the format teams switch to when their retros keep producing insight and no change.
The columns, and what goes in each
- Start
- What should the team begin doing that it is not doing today?
- Stop
- What is the team doing that is not worth the time it costs?
- Continue
- What is working well enough that we should protect it deliberately?
When to use the Start Stop Continue retrospective
- A team whose retros generate good discussion but few actions
- Mid-project course correction, where the question is what to do differently from tomorrow
- Sessions with limited time — the format needs almost no explanation
How to run a Start Stop Continue retrospective
- Remind the team that every card should read as a behaviour, not a feeling.
- Write silently for five minutes across the three columns.
- Group near-duplicates, then vote — usually three votes each.
- Take the top Start and Stop cards and give each one a named owner before you close.
Run this retrospective in RetroCanvas
Start Stop Continue is built in — pick it when you create a board, or set it to recur automatically every sprint. Free, with no credit card required.