Classic

Start, Stop, Continue retrospective template

Run a Start, Stop, Continue retrospective online for free. Three clear columns, hidden cards until the reveal, no sign-up for participants.

Use this template — free, no sign-up

Opens a new board with these columns, right in your browser.

What is the Start, Stop, Continue retrospective?

Start, Stop, Continue is the most direct retro format there is. Everyone writes down what the team should start doing, what it should stop doing, and what is working well enough to continue. Because every card is already phrased as a behaviour, the conversation skips straight from complaints to changes, and the action list almost writes itself.

The columns

  1. Start
  2. Stop
  3. Continue

When to use it

Use it when the team is new to retros, when time is short (it fits in 30 minutes), or when the last few sessions produced lots of talk and few decisions. It is also a good reset after a format that felt too playful.

How to run it in Peel in 5 steps

  1. Create a board with the Start · Stop · Continue template and share the link in your team chat. Nobody needs an account.
  2. Give everyone five quiet minutes to write. Cards stay hidden, so nobody anchors on the first loud opinion.
  3. Reveal all cards at once, then group duplicates, especially in Stop, where the same pain often shows up three times.
  4. Dot-vote across all three columns and discuss the top items, starting with Stop: removing friction is usually the cheapest win.
  5. Turn each discussed card into an action with an owner and a due date, and keep one Continue card as a thank-you to the team.
Use this template — free, no sign-up

Frequently asked questions

Should Continue be discussed at all?

Briefly. Continue cards protect habits the team would otherwise drop under pressure, so read them out and thank the people behind them, but spend most of the time on Start and Stop.

How many actions should come out of it?

Two or three. A long list of Starts rarely survives the next sprint; pick the ones with an owner who wants them.

Is it different from Keep, Add, Less, More?

KALM splits Start and Stop into degrees (more, less). Start, Stop, Continue is coarser and faster, which is why it is a good first retro.

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