Start / stop / continue retro
Definition
A retrospective format that sorts team feedback into three columns: Start (things the team should begin doing), Stop (things to eliminate), and Continue (things worth keeping).
Start / stop / continue is one of the most widely used retrospective formats because it maps directly to decision-making. Every item either creates a new behavior, removes one, or reinforces one. There's no ambiguity about what to do with the output.
Origins: The format predates Agile — it's been used in management feedback and performance reviews for decades. The Scrum community adopted it as a lightweight alternative to more emotional formats like Mad/Sad/Glad, and it spread quickly because facilitators can run it in under 30 minutes with no training.
How it runs: The team gets sticky notes (or a shared board) and five to seven minutes to populate all three columns silently. The facilitator groups similar items and the team votes on priorities. Each top-voted Stop item should produce a commitment to stop; each Start item should produce a new experiment or process change.
Where it shines: Teams that are already comfortable with retrospectives and want to move fast. Also useful mid-sprint when something is going wrong and the team needs a quick gut-check without a full ceremony.
Where it falls short: Start / stop / continue doesn't capture nuance well. Feelings, root causes, and systemic issues often need a different format — try 5 Whys or Mad/Sad/Glad for deeper digs.
With BoardSnap, snap a start / stop / continue whiteboard and get a structured summary with the three-column breakdown preserved. BoardSnap AI identifies the highest-signal items in each column and flags them as action items automatically.
Examples
- Start: weekly async design critiques. Stop: using Slack threads for bug reports — they get lost. Continue: Friday demo calls.
- A new team uses start / stop / continue as their first-ever retro format because it needs no explanation.
- An engineering manager runs start / stop / continue after a major incident to gather process feedback without assigning blame.
- A consultant facilitates start / stop / continue with a client team in 20 minutes using only a whiteboard and markers.
Snap a start / stop / continue retro. Ship its actions.
BoardSnap turns any whiteboard — including this one — into a summary and action plan.