Start Stop Continue More Less retrospective template
Start Stop Continue with the two dials the original is missing.
Also known as: Start Stop Continue More Less, SSCML, Extended Start Stop Continue.
This is Start Stop Continue with More and Less added, for teams that like the decisiveness of the original but keep needing to say "not that, just less of it". It covers the same ground as the Starfish while keeping the familiar three columns in front, which makes it an easy step up for a team already used to SSC.
The columns, and what goes in each
- Start
- What should the team begin doing that it is not doing today?
- Stop
- What should we remove entirely?
- Continue
- What is working well enough to protect as it is?
- More
- What is working, but we are not doing enough of it?
- Less
- What should we dial down without removing?
When to use the Start Stop Continue More Less retrospective
- Teams that have outgrown three columns but do not want to relearn a format
- Reviewing a set of practices where most answers are "adjust", not "adopt" or "abandon"
- Longer retrospectives with time to work across five columns properly
How to run a Start Stop Continue More Less retrospective
- Point out that More and Less exist so that Stop stays reserved for genuine removal.
- Write silently for eight minutes.
- Read Continue, More, and Less as a block — they are all about existing practice.
- Vote once across the board and convert winners into a revised working agreement.
Run this retrospective in RetroCanvas
Start Stop Continue More Less is built in — pick it when you create a board, or set it to recur automatically every sprint. Free, with no credit card required.