Project | GroupMap

Hackathon Canvas

What is a Hackathon Canvas?

A Hackathon Canvas is a visual and strategic planning tool designed to help organise a successful hackathon event.

Hackathons are a popular way for people to network, learn new skills, and collaborate on innovative projects. They have been used to create new products, solve real-world problems, and even launch new companies.

They require careful planning to ensure that the event runs smoothly and achieves its goals.

Why Use a Hackathon Canvas?

A Hackathon Canvas can help take the effort out of organising a hackathon by helping to –

Break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable ones.
Provide a visual representation of the key components.
Provide a common language that can be used by all stakeholders.
Define the goals and objectives of the hackathon and ensure that everyone is working towards a common goal.
Identify the resources required to run the hackathon.

Who Needs a Hackathon Canvas?

Hackathon Event organizers
Innovation Managers
Start Up Consultants
Accelerators and Incubators
Internal think tanks
Judges, Sponsors and Mentors

Related templates

Tips for effective hackathon planning

Start by defining the goals of the hackathon.
Engage a diverse group to help plan the hackathon. This will offer a range of skills and perspectives.
Use technology to involve critical people in different locations rather than miss their contribution.
Minimize groupthink by brainstorming ideas individually then combining issues to get the overall picture.
Provide adequate time in the session to discuss and clarify ideas.
Ensure all actions are assigned to someone with an agreed deadline.
Communicate outcomes to stakeholders and regularly update progress on actions.

References

How to Use a Hackathon Canvas

Ensure all stakeholders involved in the planning process have access to the Canvas. Using an online collaborative tool such as GroupMap allows those stakeholders to engage both in person and remotely. It can also allow for the group to share their input either synchronously or asynchronously depending on their availability.

It is best to start by defining the Hackathon Goals then moving to the section the group agrees to be the next most important.

Once all ideas are captured, actions can be defined that shape the agreed steps to the delivery of the hackathon itself.

Brainstorm

Action

Share

Brainstorm

Action

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Startup Canvas

What is a Startup Canvas?

A Startup Canvas is a one-page strategic planning tool used to help entrepreneurs define, realize and communicate their business model on a single page.

This is a variation of the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. The Start Up Canvas was created by Maurya Ash, a notable start up adviser who varied the original model to be more focused on a new business.

Since then, more variations have been created. The one shown here includes a broad set of aspects for a start up including value, user acquisition and channels to market.

Why use a Startup Canvas?

Defines your business model. You can see how the elements fit together and how one affects the other.
Improves focus and priorities. By honing in on the areas a start-up business needs most, you can be smarter with time and money.
Can identify gaps and opportunities. Working through each element challenges assumptions and can also spark new ideas.
It acts as a communication tool. A ‘one pager’ helps you communicate the vision to the team and investors.
Allows for easy iteration and refinement. You can easily change or update your canvas as you learn more or gain clarity.

Who Should Use Startup Canvas?

Start up teams
Entrepreneurs and start up founders
Business Consultants
Start up coaches and advisors
Investors
Educations in entrepreneurship and design thinking

Related templates

Tips for the Startup Canvas

Focus on the problem first. Having a clear definition of the problem goes a long way to making sure the solution in mind fits. Hit the nail with the hammer, not the other way round.
Ensure that the solution is unique, but also has value. It’s great to be one of a kind, as long as it also solves the problem.
Iteration is key. It would be a miracle if the first cut of the start up canvas stays the same. As lessons are learned, and assumptions are validated, the canvas should evolve and change as needed.
Work with the team and invite others. It will help give new perspectives, critical thinking and opportunity for feedback.

Startup Canvas template

How to Use a Startup Canvas

It all starts with your new business idea. You can start with a proposed name.

The criticl thing to define is the customer’s problem. From there, you can refine any solution/s you have in mind.

Identifying competitors helps develop an understanding of the current market landscape. Then list all the ways your solution brings value to solving the problem. Capture what you know to date and how you will create a minimum viable product.

Next, define your ideal customers and how you attract them to your business. This step is crucial in knowing how you might market and position your product.

Finally, decide on who you need in your team to accomplish the goals you have for your company and create the vision for your startup.

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Results

Action Plan

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Results

Action Plan

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Corrective Action Plan

What is a Corrective Action Plan?

A Corrective Action Plan is a systematic approach to addressing problems or issues that have been identified in a process, system, or project.

Why Use a Corrective Action Plan?

A Corrective Action Plan can be used when there is a need to address and improve an issue in the workplace. It could be the quality of a product or service, customer satisfaction, or the overall efficiency and effectiveness of a process or system.

It helps your organizations identify and address problems early on, before they become larger issues that can negatively impact the organization’s reputation, financial performance, and overall success.

Who Should Run One?

Anyone who is involved in a process or system can benefit from a corrective action plan. This includes

Individuals and teams responsible for quality control, risk management, and Six Sigma.
Project managers
Change agents and leaders
Team leaders and agile scrum masters

Related templates

DMAIC Analysis
5 Whys – key topic
RAID Log

Tips for effective corrective action plans

Be inclusive. Involve the whole team or group.
Use technology to involve people in different locations rather than miss their contribution.
Minimize Groupthink by brainstorming ideas individually.
Be specific rather than broad when defining ideas.
Keep things positive. Remind people they are helping to build solutions and avoid the ‘blame game’.
Provide adequate time in the session for people to share their ideas.
Monitor outcomes, if improvements aren’t observed revisit the process.

References

Corrective Action Plan template

How to Use the Corrective Action Plan Template

The Corrective Action Plan is a map designed to facilitate a collaborative approach to identifying and addressing issues in the workplace.

Start by making sure all stakeholders impacted by issues have access to the map. Using an online collaborative tool such as GroupMap allows those stakeholders to engage both in person and remotely. It can also allow for the group to share their input either synchronously or asynchronously depending on their availability.

As one section of the map leads to the next, it is best to work through it one column at a time. First have the group decide upon the top three issues it will discuss. Then have them settle on the corrective actions they will use to address them. Finally, have the group identify the various metrics that will be used to track success in the ‘Measurement’ column.

Brainstorm

Like/Dislike

Share

Brainstorm

Like/Dislike

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Plus Delta Retrospective

What is a Plus Delta Retrospective?

The Plus Delta retrospective is a simple way to collect feedback from team members to support the continuous improvement of a certain process, activity, project, or event.

It gives team members a chance to express what they thought of the last sprint in very simple terms. This easy retrospective helps them focus on the positives, so the team can gain a sense of accomplishment, build confidence, learn from the things that went well, and change what didn’t.

Why Run One?

The Plus Delta template helps to:

Assess the effectiveness of a new process or system
Evaluate the results of a project
Review the performance of a team
Highlight areas of success
Increase self-awareness
Encourage feedback
Foster teamwork
Build trust
Identify and prioritize action items

Who Should Use the Plus Delta Retrospective?

The Plus Delta retrospective is a great tool to use with a newly formed agile team. It is a template that could be used by Scrum Masters and their agile software development teams.

It could also be used by any group looking to reflect on a process or project and improve.

Related templates

Tips for an effective Plus Delta retrospective

Create a safe and respectful environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
Stick to the Plus Delta template and keep the conversation focused on the specific project, event, or team performance that you are reviewing.
Encourage quiet team members to speak up, and avoid letting any one person dominate the conversation.

References

Plus Delta Retrospective Template

How to Run a Plus Delta Retrospective

The Plus Delta retrospective can help create a culture of continuous improvement within a team.

For teams that are working remotely or are located in different geographical locations, using an online collaborative tool like GroupMap can be an effective way to facilitate the process. It can create a shared space where team members can collaborate and contribute their ideas.

Start by sharing the Plus Delta template with the team members. Allow all team members to brainstorm ideas. They can contribute in real time or synchronously.

Once all team members have added their ideas to the Plus and Delta board, facilitate a discussion where the team can group the topics, discuss the items that have been added and identify areas for improvement. Prioritize the items in the delta column, and assign actions to team members to address them.

Use GroupMap to track progress, assign responsibilities, and set deadlines. Follow-up with team members to ensure that actions are being completed, and review progress in future meetings to assess the effectiveness of the changes made.

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action Plan

Share

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action Plan

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Scrum Values in Action

What is Scrum Values in Action?

Scrum Values in Action is a fun and easy icebreaker that can help your team get to know each other better and help them start to think about how the Scrum values apply to them.

The five Scrum Values are essential for creating an effective and productive team. It will help them work together better to achieve their goals. The values are:

Openness
Commitment
Courage
Focus
Respect

Why use Scrum Values in Action?

Scrum Values in Action can help deliver all of the benefits of an icebreaker with a focus on Scrum. It encourages participation, helps to build relationships, and creates a positive atmosphere for the meeting. It can help to reduce any tension that may be in the room as well as increase engagement and energy levels.

This icebreaker is an excellent way of revisiting the Scrum Values and can act as a gentle reminder of the values themselves.

Importantly, discussing the Scrum Values is a helpful way to build a solid and cohesive team culture.

This helps a team stay focused on project goals and encourages continuous improvement.

Related templates

Tips for running Scrum Values in Action

Maintain a mood that's lighthearted and friendly.
Give examples for each value to illustrate.
If you are delivering a remote session, make sure everyone can access the collaboration tools.
Give adequate time for people to respond.
If no one is responding, use a transparent process to decide who goes next. e.g. alphabetical order, or order of people on screen.
Positively reinforce responses. Thank people for contributing.

References

Who Should Use Scrum Values in Action?

Scrum Values in Action is a great tool to kick off an agile retrospective. They are useful for Scrum Masters and their agile software development teams.

It can also be used by any group looking to start a conversation around team culture and values.

Scrum Values in Action Template

How to Run Scrum Values in Action

Start with a positive mindset. Welcome input and thank people for their response. Remind people that there are no wrong answers and that they should be able to share freely and without fear.
Explain what each of the values means. Then invite the group to think about behaviors that could reflect those values.

Using an online Icebreakers tool means that people can collaborate, see ideas in real-time, and can add comments.

Brainstorm

Share

Brainstorm

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Character Alignment Chart

groupmap-template-Character Alignment-with ideas-img

The Character Alignment Chart

This icebreaker activity lets you create different actions for any given situation and classify them as lawful, chaotic, good, evil or somewhere in between.

This is an imaginative way to encourage people to think about their values, how they approach decision-making, and the roles they play when working together.

This is a fun way to explore how people’s values play out in different situations.

Why Use One?

This activity encourages self-reflection by revealing how each person may respond to a situation. The benefits of this include:

It encourages creativity and solving problems from a different perspective.
It promotes team building by understanding how different people respond to the same situation.
People can explain their decision-making process in a non-threatening way.

Who Should Use One?

This activity is well suited for group facilitators, trainers, team leaders, or people leading groups to solve common issues that have multiple solutions.

Its game-based theme works well with retreats, creative problem-solving, and other collaborative settings.

Related templates

Tips for the Character Alignment Chart

Have a scenario ready to go, such as onboarding a new vendor or having to speed up production.
Use technology and online collaboration tools to allow people to add their ideas in real time.
There is room for all roles, including Evil, Unlawful and Chaos. Tell people to reserve judgment as the reasons for this behaviour might reveal a different, yet important perspective.
Having all actions in a single category may have implications. Have the team discuss what it could mean for the group.

References

Character Alignment Chart Template

Lawful Good

Upholds the law and is driven by duty and justice. Follows a moral code and respects authority.

Lawful Neutral

Seeks to maintain the law, but is not bound by good or evil. Is motivated by duty or tradition.

Lawful Evil

Uses the law to gain power or control. Is motivated by selfish desires.

Neutral Good

Seeks to do good, but is not bound by rules or laws. Is driven by empathy and compassion to help others.

Neutral Good

Remains balanced between following the law and their beliefs. Seeks to maintain balance and self-interest.

Neutral Good

Primarily motivated by their own self interests, rather than the law. May use others to further personal goals.

Chaotic Good

Prioritizes doing good over following the law or social norms. Is driven by freedom and individuality.

Chaotic Neutral

Prioritizes freedom and individuality over law or moral codes. Is unpredictable and difficult to control.

Chaotic Evil

Prioritizes own desires and goals above all else. Enjoys causing harm and destruction, and is difficult to control.

How to Run a Character Alignment Activity.

Firstly, create a few scenarios that you can pose to the group. For example:

You are the head of a new innovation hub for the company and have been charged with coming up with new ideas to improve the product and service offerings of the team. What kind of actions would you take?
You are running a community consultation workshop to get policy feedback on greening the neighbourhood, targeting the younger generation. What kind of actions would you take?
You can make the scenario as detailed or as simple as you like. Explain each of the different character types above to the group.

Brainstorm

Categorise

Share

Brainstorm

Categorise

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Fun and Easy Retrospective Alternatives

GroupMap’s fun agile retrospectives. Creative and fun ways of running focussed and effective retrospective meetings with your team.

Why Run a Fun Agile Retrospective?

Running fun agile retrospectives can help inject fresh perspectives into your meetings. They can also help address bad habits or antipatterns.

Fun agile retrospectives still support your team’s continuous improvement journey as they come together to connect, reflect and improve. They continue to deliver the benefits of traditional retrospectives such as –

Giving your team the space to safely engage in healthy dissent and shape next steps.
Empowering teams through collaboration to solve problems and own the process.
Regularly identifying and addressing any problems before they escalate.

Fun agile retrospectives also –

Tap into your team’s creative side.
Help your team consider their sprint from a fresh perspective.
Inject an element of fun in your retrospective meeting.
Change the focus of the retrospective.

If you sense your team is not really engaging with their traditional retrospective or simply on ‘retro-autopilot’ then try one of these alternative agile retrospectives.

Our Fun and Easy Retrospectives

Our team has hand-picked our top four fun retrospectives to help your team reflect and improve.

Starfish retrospective
An action and behavior-based retrospective that improves the way the team works.

Anchors and engines retrospective
For addressing velocity and progress based on what is driving and slowing down the team.

Sailboat retrospective
A goal-oriented retrospective that helps steer your team in the right direction

Hot air balloon retrospective
Take a higher-level view that also acknowledges the team.

Related templates

Tips for effective agile retrospective

Create a regular cadence by locking in a recurring meeting time
Make the retrospective template available before the meeting. This will give team members time to consider their responses and address recency bias.
Allow anonymous input to promote honesty and foster psychologically safety.
Rotate the meeting facilitator amongst the team.
Use technology to involve critical people in different locations, and easily capture input and actions.
Minimize Groupthink by brainstorming ideas individually then combining issues to get the overall picture.
Communicate outcomes to team members, and follow up on actions.

References

Check out TeamRetro, our solution for distributed agile retrospectives

Starfish

Anchors and Engines

Hot Air Balloon

Sailboat

Starfish

What is a Starfish Retrospective?

The starfish retrospective was designed by Patrick Kua. It offers a different lens through which a group may review their work. It helps them to think about the varying degrees of the value of their actions and efforts.

In other words, unlike more traditional retrospectives, the starfish retrospective goes beyond creating a list of what happened or didn’t happen. It invites a group to think about and assess the practices that generated value. In doing so, the group can decide which should receive more energy and which should receive less. This then informs the group’s next steps.

Given that the focus of the starfish retrospective is on ‘current practice’, it’s best run after a number of retrospectives have occurred. This gives the group a greater timeframe of activity for them to consider. The starfish retrospective focuses on five areas:

What should we start doing?
What should we stop doing?
What should we keep doing?
What should we do more of?
What should we do less of?

Why Do a Starfish Retrospective?

Using a starfish retrospective helps a group refine their actions for future sprints. With it, they can examine the ‘how’ and the ‘what’ they do. This could include how they work within the organization and the way they work together as a team.

With this in mind, GroupMap’s starfish retrospective does more than support your team’s review of their last sprint. It helps you reinforce healthy workplace habits by empowering your team to pursue their own continuous improvement.

Starfish Retrospective Template

Anchors and Engines

What is Anchors and Engines Retrospective?

The anchors and engines agile retrospective is the perfect tool to use when you want to review the velocity of a project. It aims to identify the things that are impacting your team’s productivity.

The anchors and engines retrospective is intentionally simple. The team can share what is slowing them down (anchors) and speeding them up (engines). This could include difficulties with sticking to the critical path, meeting agreed outputs, or delivering goals. GroupMap’s anchors and engines retrospective focuses on two areas:

Anchors
Engines

Why Do an Anchors and Engines Retrospective?

Using an anchors and engines agile retrospective helps teams shape the next steps with the end goal in full view. It is a great tool for teams who might be in the middle of the project and finding that their progress has not been what they would like it to be or where people have experienced frustrations. The anchors and engines retrospective allows you to identify barriers so they can be addressed.

Anchors and Engines Retrospective Template

Hot Air Balloon

What is a Hot Air Balloon Retrospective?

The hot air balloon retrospective is a simple, creative take on traditional retrospectives. Like the agile and 4Ls retrospectives, the hot air balloon retrospective supports the continuous improvement of a product or program.

A hot air balloon is used as a metaphor to help identify specific elements of a team’s most recent work, sprint or iteration. Additionally, it recognizes and acknowledges the effort of team members. GroupMap’s hot air balloon retrospective focuses on three areas:

Why Do a Hot Air Balloon Retrospective?

Using a hot air balloon retrospective can change up your retrospective game. It helps you reinforce a positive working environment by inspiring your team to recognize the efforts of others and helps you understand what is lifting them up, and dragging them down. It helps to improve the morale of the workplace and the team. By knowing this, your role as the Scrum Master can help remove the weights that are dragging or slowing them down and find ways to lift them up. Examples of things that are keeping us down could be some unnecessary bureaucracy, waiting on approval that may have slipped through the cracks or lack of automated testing. Examples of what is making us fly could be great tooling, process quality or efficient decision making processes.

What is making us fly?
What is keeping us down?
Hugs and kudos

Hot Air Balloon Retrospective Template

hot-air-balloon-template-image

Sailboat

What is a Sailboat Retrospective?

The sailboat retrospective is a great way to reflect on the goals of a sprint while keeping risks in mind. The retrospective uses a sailboat as a metaphor and is a great way of addressing issues relating to a specific goal.

The sailboat retrospective focuses on three areas:

Wind
Anchors
Rocks

The neat thing about this format is that it can be used both as a retrospective or futurespective mindset.

In a retrospective format, the team thinks about their goal for the current sprint. They share things that slowed them down (anchors), sped them up (wind), and hazards or issues along the way (rocks). This gives them a shared experience that helps them tackle the next sprint with more confidence.

In a futurespective format, the goal of the next sprint is shared. Then the team brainstorms the potential anchors, wind and rocks that might come up. They can then create actions associated with this.

Why Do a Sailboat Retrospective?

A sailboat retrospective is a useful futurespective exercise. It is a simple technique that could be used by agile teams of all levels of experience. It helps teams shape next steps that leverage drivers (wind), reduce hindrances (anchors), and navigate around risks (rocks).

Using the sailboat metaphor helps the team tap into their creative side. It encourages them to view their context differently. In doing so, they are encouraged to come up with different solutions to address any challenges.

A team can use the sailboat retrospective to capture the broad range of factors affecting their success. Together, they can clearly define the next steps they agree to follow to reach their goal as quickly as possible.

Like our other retrospectives, it supports forward planning while learning from the past. Importantly, the sailboat retrospective helps you to identify risks so they can be avoided or addressed.

Sailboat Retrospective Template

sailboat-template-image

Who Should Use a Fun Retrospective?

Agile software development teams were the first to use retrospectives. However, with agile practices now used across a number of industries, the fun agile retrospectives can be applied to almost any undertaking.

Our fun agile retrospectives are broadly used brainstorming tools. They could be used to support a team’s regular review of –

a project
a process
a program

that they wish to improve.

As such, fun agile retrospectives could be used by:

Scrum Masters
Iteration Managers
Innovation Officers
Team Leaders
Program Coordinators

Anyone overseeing a team who is looking to support their continuous improvement would benefit from their use.

How to Run a Fun Agile Retrospective

To make your retrospective fun, introduce the change of the format with energy and a reason as to why you are using an alternative agile retrospective format. Introducing a theme, adding some background music or images or other novelty can certainly add a new dimension and energy to the meeting.

Because it might be a change from the standard agile retrospective, it would be worth a quick explanation of the angle of the retrospective and the new format.

In the case of remote and distributed teams, it can be difficult to get everyone together in the same room at the same time. Delivering the retrospective online is the ideal way of engaging all team members. Screen sharing software, video conferencing, and online collaboration tools such as GroupMap allow facilitators to deliver inclusive retrospectives.

How to Use a Fun Template to Run a Better Retrospective

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action Plan

Share

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action Plan

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

The ESVP Agile Retrospective Check In

GroupMap’s ESVP template. An easy and simple way to help set the stage for your retrospective or team meeting.

What is an ESVP?

ESVP is an exercise created by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen. Its goal is to help set the stage for a retrospective.

The ESVP was designed to engage and focus on those involved in the retrospective. At the same time, it gained insight into the participants’ attitudes towards the agile retrospective meeting itself.

While it’s still a popular way to kick off a retrospective, ESVPs are now used more widely. They can be icebreakers used to warm up any type of meeting or collaborative session. They can also be used at any point during a session as a temperature check.

ESVP stands for ‘Explorers, Shoppers, Vacationers and Prisoners’. Participants are invited to indicate the persona with whom they most relate at that point in time.

An ESVP focuses on four areas:

Explorer – Will dive in and discover new things.
Shopper – Will see what can be procured.
Vacationer – Will relax and switch off.
Prisoner – Does not want to be there.

Terms that are used by some groups may not be used by others. That’s why all of GroupMap’s templates are customisable. You could, for example, change ‘Vacationer’ to ‘Observer’ if you feel that word better suits your group.

Why Do an ESVP?

Using an ESVP at the start of your meeting can give everyone insight into the current motivations of the group. This means you’ll get more out of your meeting because you can see the attitudes and expectations of the people there. An ESVP check in exercise helps to create tiny yet powerful threads of connection between meeting participants. These connections help sow the seeds of collaboration.

Setting the stage with an ESVP can also help a facilitator gauge the attitudes of the people in the room. This lets the facilitator shape their next steps and helps everyone make the most of their meeting time.

You can use it to:

Softly launch your meeting
Easily gauge the ‘vibe’ of the group
Decide on how you want to approach the retrospective meeting

Who Should Use an ESVP?

The ESVP is an insightful tool and can be used by:

Scrum Masters
Iteration Managers
Coordinators
Team Leaders
Teachers
Trainers
Facilitators

In a nutshell, people who are working with groups in order to deliver outcomes would benefit from adding an EVSP to their toolkit.

Related templates

Tips for an effective ESVP

Make it anonymous. This will support psychological safety and reduce the influence of groupthink.
Explain why you’re running it. This will increase the likelihood of buy-in
Keep it short. It might be tempting to drill down into responses, but don’t. This will only distract from the meeting and may result in more ‘Prisoners’.

References

Check out TeamRetro, our solution for distributed agile retrospectives

ESVP Template

Explorer

Will dive in and discover new things.

Eager to examine possibilities
Positive attitude and high energy
Motivated by the chance to learn and open to where that may head

Shopper

Will see what can be procured.

Happy to consider the possibilities
Reasonably positive attitude and medium energy
Motivated by chance of finding something of benefit

Vacationer

Will relax and switch off.

Indifferent to possibilities
Passive attitude and low energy
Motivated by the chance to disengage

Prisoner

Will not want to be here.

Resistant to possibilities
Closed attitude and medium to high energy
Motivated by the requirement to attend

How to Create an ESVP

Creating an ESVP is very straightforward. It simply presents people with four categories and asks them to pick one.

To start a face-to-face meeting, a flipchart or whiteboard divided into four zones could be used. People then place a post-it or mark an ‘X’ on the area they wish. To support anonymity, a post-it with an E, S, V, or P could be dropped into a hat with a facilitator recording the results for all to see.

A different approach is needed when it comes to remote and distributed teams. Getting everyone together in the same room at the same time may not be possible. So delivering the ESVP online is the ideal way of engaging all team members.

Screen sharing software, video conferencing, and online collaboration tools allow facilitators to deliver inclusive ESVPs. GroupMap’s ESVP template has been designed with this in mind. It can be used with any type of team (co-located, hybrid or remote).

The time it takes to deliver an ESVP meeting will vary depending on the number of people in the session. With that said, it’s possible to deliver an ESVP online in less than five minutes. This includes sharing time.

GroupMap has included two steps in its ESVP template. The template is designed to allow participants a single anonymous response.

How to Use an ESVP to Run Better Meetings

Brainstorm

Share and Discuss

Brainstorm

Share and Discuss

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

DAKI Retrospective

GroupMap’s DAKI agile retrospective. A creative and simple way of running easy and effective retrospective meetings with your team

What is a DAKI Retrospective?

The DAKI retrospective is short for the Drop Add Keep Remove retrospective. It helps a team reflect on the different processes they use in order to achieve their goal. They can assess the value of each process and take action to help them perform more effectively.

It’s a great tool to use later on in the project cycle. This way the team has the chance to view how each process has (or hasn’t) contributed to their progress to date.

The DAKI retrospective is really simple but thorough. Some say it takes the start stop continue retrospective up a level. As well as identifying actions they feel they should drop, add and keep, the team has the chance to explore ways to improve processes.

The DAKI retrospective is a great way of supercharging a high-functioning team.

GroupMap’s DAKI retrospective focuses on four areas:

Drop – these are the actions that aren’t delivering value.
Add– these are the things the team wishes to include
Keep – these are the actions that deliver value as they are
Improve – these are currently happening and could deliver greater value

Like all of GroupMap’s templates, the DAKI retrospective can be customized to make it your own. This means you could, for example, add other areas of focus such as ‘Hugs and kudos’’ to identify the achievements of individual team members.

Why do a DAKI Retrospective?

Using a DAKI retrospective is great for all types of agile teams.

It’s a good tool to use to address retro-autopilot (when people give similar responses at each retrospective). It’s also great to use if your team feels they are in a rut. Using the DAKI will help shake things up and refocus the team.

The DAKI retrospective can also help the team recalibrate after a challenging sprint. It gives people the opportunity to drop the actions that made things difficult. The team, therefore, benefits from the lessons of the past.

A team can use the DAKI retrospective to clearly define the next steps they agree to follow to reach their goal as quickly as possible.

You can use it to:

Assess processes and identify and address any small problems so they don’t grow into big ones.
Provide an opportunity for all team members to be heard.
Come together as a team to connect, reflect and improve.
Give team members an opportunity to share their ideas
Leverage the knowledge and experience of the whole team to shape next steps.
Empower teams through collaboration to solve problems, build solutions and own the processes they design to deliver success.
Offer your team the chance to safely engage in healthy dissent with a view to building better solutions.

Who should use a DAKI Retrospective?

With agile practices now used across a number of industries, the DAKI retrospective could support teams of all types.

DAKI retrospective could be used by:

Innovation Officers
Team Leaders
Program CoordinatorsAll project teams
Scrum Masters
Iteration Managers

It is a great tool to support a team’s continuous improvement.

Related templates

Start Stop Continue Retrospective
Starfish Retrospective
Hot Air Balloon Retrospective
4Ls retrospective
ESVP

Tips for effective retrospectives

Set meeting ground rules to ensure everyone in the room is on the same page
Appoint a facilitator or Scrum Master to focus on delivering an effective meeting
Create a regular cadence by locking in a recurring meeting time
Make the retrospective template available before the meeting. This will give team members time to consider their responses and address recency bias.
Allow anonymous input to encourage honesty and foster psychologically safety.
Use technology to involve critical people in different locations, and easily capture input and actions.
Minimize Groupthink by brainstorming ideas individually then combining issues to get the overall picture.
Communicate outcomes to team members, and follow up on actions.

References

Check out TeamRetro, our solution for distributed agile retrospectives

DAKI Retrospective Template

Drop

These things could be distracting or time-wasting. They do not bring value.

Question to ask:

What’s stopping you from focusing?
What makes your job difficult?
What takes up most of your time?

Add

New ideas and fresh innovations.

Questions to ask:

What has worked for other teams?
What haven’t we tried?
What would you love to try?

Keep

These things are going well and continue to support the team.

Question to ask:

What’s running as it should?
What can we rely on?
What’s delivering value?

Improve

These are current actions that need tweaks to be more effective.

Questions to ask:

What has even more potential?
What do we know could be better?
What can we refine?

How to Create a DAKI Retrospective

A DAKI retrospective is a chance for the team to reflect on how they spent their time and where they directed their energy. It helps them define issues that can be solved, and shape the next steps. It’s important to have all team members involved.

In the case of remote and distributed teams, it can be difficult to get everyone together in the same room at the same time. Delivering the retrospective online is the ideal way of engaging all team members.

Screen sharing software, video conferencing, and online collaboration tools allow facilitators to deliver inclusive retrospectives. GroupMap’s anchors and engines retrospective has been designed with this in mind. It can be used with any type of team (co-located, hybrid or remote). So it’s a cost-effective way of delivering focused, effective retrospectives.

The time it takes to run a DAKI retrospective meeting will vary depending on the scope of the session. Setting and keeping to “timeboxes” for each stage can help streamline the process. Teams should be able to identify and prioritize issues and develop an action plan in less than 30 minutes.

GroupMap has included five key steps in its DAKI template. However, like all our templates, it can be customized to include additional process steps (such as rating) to support your group’s collaborative process.

How to Use a DAKI Template to Run a Better Retrospective

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action Plan

Share

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action Plan

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

SMART Goal Template

What are SMART Goals?

SMART goals are:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound

Goal setting is well known to help teams deliver value. Goals help to equitably allocate tasks, track progress, manage time and focus effort. Defining meaningful goals, however, can sometimes be tricky.

Enter George Doran, the person credited with developing the SMART approach to goal setting. In his paper, “There’s a SMART Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives”, Doran presented an approach to help demystify the goal setting process and “write meaningful objectives”, and with it, SMART goals were born! SMART goals are a justifiably popular mechanism. They are an exceptional tool to help your team capture and articulate their vision and agree to the measurements of success.

Your team can use a SMART framework anytime you want to set, review or refine your goals. And if you’re looking for a way to foster a sense of collaboration and empower your team with a shared purpose, defining SMART goals is a great way to do it.

Related templates

Simple Brainstorm
The Improvement Canvas
SWOT Analysis

Meeting tips using the SMART Goals technique

Bigger goals can be divided into smaller steps to ensure they remain realistic
Goals should complement your company’s goals, mission, and vision.
Consider how day-to-day tasks will be delivered in parallel with the goal.
To get the most out of the SMART Goals template, first utilise a simple brainstorm to capture all the goals your team may wish to deliver, then review it to identify the goal you wish to expand into a SMART Goal.

References

SMART way to write Management Goals

Why Use SMART Goals?

When it comes to goal setting, a SMART framework will help your team cut to the chase! It will support and focus your team as they shape clear goals that are realistic, actionable and effective. Not only will a SMART framework help your team define their goals efficiently, it will capture those goals so they can be clearly, concisely, and easily shared with new team members and other stakeholders.

A SMART framework helps to confirm your goals – are worth delivering, can be tracked to demonstrate change, are correctly resourced, and are appropriately aligned.

A goal like Improving fitness is too general. A SMART goal would be to be able to run 10KMs in under an hour by July is far more meaningful and focussed.

When Should I Shape a SMART Goal?

All common types of goals can be improved when viewed through a SMART lens. Examples of common goals include:

Increasing or reducing something – Reduce the error rates of a production of product X by the next financial year by 5%.

Making or creating something – Introduce 3 working prototype variations by the next quarter for an innovative approach to wear and tear detection.

Refining, improving or developing something – Improve the yield rate by 0.5% through introduction of new pesticide routines.

Defining a goal to include key parameters, resources, timeframe and metrics, brings greater clarity to a shared team vision. So, whenever you shape a goal, make it a SMART!

SMART Goal Template Example

To get the most out of the SMART Goals template, first utilise a simple brainstorm to capture all the goals your team may wish to deliver, then review it to identify the goal you wish to expand into a SMART Goal.

When you’re working with a large or distributed team, getting everyone together at the same time can be difficult, inconvenient, and costly. Using different technologies like video conferencing, online forms, and collaborative brainstorming software such as GroupMap can help overcome these challenges.

Objective: Define the clear objective your team wants to deliver

Brainstorm: Gather inputs from each person

Share and communicate: Confirm everyone’s understanding of the SMART GOAL

How to Use the SMART Goals Template to Run Better Meetings

Objective

Brainstorm

Share and Communicate

Objective

Brainstorm

Share and Communicate

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Category: Project

What is a Hackathon Canvas?

Why Use a Hackathon Canvas?

Who Needs a Hackathon Canvas?

How to Use a Hackathon Canvas

Brainstorm

Action

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

What is a Startup Canvas?

Why use a Startup Canvas?​

Who Should Use Startup Canvas?

Startup Canvas template

How to Use a Startup Canvas

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Results

Action Plan

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

What is a Corrective Action Plan?

Why Use a Corrective Action Plan?

Who Should Run One?

Corrective Action Plan template

How to Use the Corrective Action Plan Template

Brainstorm

Like/Dislike

Action

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

What is a Plus Delta Retrospective?

Why Run One?

Who Should Use the Plus Delta Retrospective?

Plus Delta Retrospective Template

How to Run a Plus Delta Retrospective

Brainstorm

Group

Vote

Action

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

What is Scrum Values in Action?

Why use Scrum Values in Action?

Who Should Use Scrum Values in Action?

Scrum Values in Action Template

How to Run Scrum Values in Action

Brainstorm

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

The Character Alignment Chart

Why Use One?

Who Should Use One?

Character Alignment Chart Template

Lawful Good

Lawful Neutral

Lawful Evil

Neutral Good

Neutral Good

Neutral Good

Chaotic Good

Chaotic Neutral

Chaotic Evil

How to Run a Character Alignment Activity.

Brainstorm

Categorise

Share

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Why Run a Fun Agile Retrospective?

Our Fun and Easy Retrospectives

Related templates

Tips for effective agile retrospective

References

What is a Starfish Retrospective?

Why Do a Starfish Retrospective?

Starfish Retrospective Template

What is Anchors and Engines Retrospective?

Why Do an Anchors and Engines Retrospective?

Anchors and Engines Retrospective Template

What is a Hot Air Balloon Retrospective?

Why Do a Hot Air Balloon Retrospective?

Hot Air Balloon Retrospective Template

Why use a Startup Canvas?