Purpose

The Start Stop Continue Retrospective is one of the simplest and most widely used retrospective formats. Teams sort observations into three columns — things to Start doing, things to Stop doing, and things to Continue doing — creating a clear, action-oriented improvement plan.

At a glance

• Group size: 3–12 people
• Duration: 15 minutes
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Facilitation style: Structured
• Setting: Both / Remote-friendly

How to run

1. Set up three columns: Start, Stop, Continue.
2. Silent brainstorming: each person writes sticky notes for each column (3 minutes).
3. Round-robin placement and brief explanation (5 minutes).
4. Group duplicates and briefly discuss key themes (4 minutes).
5. Pick 1–2 actions per column to commit to (3 minutes).

Materials needed

• Whiteboard or digital board
• Sticky notes (three colours)
• Markers
• Timer

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• The Continue column becoming a praise-only zone with no specifics — push for concrete behaviours.
• Too many items in Start without capacity to act on them.
• Not reviewing the previous retro commitments.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Offer a pre-retro prompt sheet so participants can think ahead.
• Use anonymous digital boards for sensitive Stop items.
• Provide examples for each column to lower the barrier for newcomers.

Variations

• Start Stop Continue Keep: split Continue into Continue (unchanged) and Keep (protect at all costs).
• Individual first: each person fills in their own grid, then the team merges.
• Weighted SSC: dot-vote each column independently to find highest-priority items.

When NOT to use this

• When the team is experiencing deeper emotional issues — use Mad Sad Glad or a safety check first.
• When nuance is needed between do less and stop entirely — use the Starfish instead.

Source & further reading

• Alistair Cockburn, Agile Software Development (Addison-Wesley).
• Retromat (retromat.org).