Speed Car retrospective
Picture the team as a race car. The engine is what drives it, the brakes are what slow it down and the fuel is what keeps it going. It shows what speeds the team up and what holds it back.
3 columns · 30 to 45 minutes · Free, no sign-up
When to run a Speed Car retro
- The team delivers, but something keeps slowing it down.
- When you want to talk about energy and motivation, not only process.
- A change from Start Stop Continue that most people grasp at once.
The three columns
Each column asks the team one question. Read the questions out before anyone writes, so everyone answers the same ones.
Engine (What drives us)
What drives us forward?
For example
A clear goal for the quarter
AnonymousBrakes (What slows us)
What slows us down?
For example
Manual testing before every release
AnonymousFuel (What energizes us)
What gives us energy?
For example
Seeing customers use what we built
Anonymous
How to run a Speed Car retrospective
About 30 to 45 minutes for a team of five to eight, in one shared room.
Open the room
Press Start a retro with Speed Car: the room opens with the three columns ready, and teammates join from its link with just a name.
Warm up
Every retro opens with a warm-up question. Answers stay hidden until someone reveals them, then everyone reads them at once.
Write in private
Give everyone eight minutes on the shared timer to add cards to the engine, the brakes and the fuel. Nobody sees anyone else's cards until the reveal.
Reveal and group
Anyone can reveal the board, after a three-second countdown. Drag cards that say the same thing onto each other to group them.
Talk it through
Spend most of the time on the brakes: each one the team can release is an action point. Then check the fuel, so what keeps people going is not lost.
Agree on action points
Add each decision as an action point from the board's sidebar. The summary lists them, and a retro run under a team keeps them on the team's page.
Formats like Speed Car
Sailboat
See what pushes the team forward, what holds it back and the risks ahead.
Wind · Anchor · Rocks · Island
KPT (Keep Problem Try)
A Japanese staple of continuous improvement, short enough for a weekly retro.
Keep · Problem · Try
Questions about Speed Car retros
What do the engine, brakes and fuel stand for?
The engine is what drives the team, the brakes are what slow it down and the fuel is what gives it energy. Each column in RetroAgent says so in brackets, such as Engine (What drives us).
When is Speed Car a good fit?
When the team is moving and wants to go faster. It looks at the work as it is today; for a retro about the goal and the risks ahead, use Sailboat.
How long does a Speed Car retro take?
About 30 to 45 minutes, with three columns to fill and talk through.
Can we change the columns?
Yes. Rename a column or add one, up to five, in the launcher before you start or in the room's settings during the retro. A card stays with the column name it was written under, so rename a column before the team writes in it.
Do participants need an account?
No. Teammates open the room link and type their name. They can sign in with Google or GitHub at any time and keep everything they wrote.
Ready for a Speed Car retro?
Your team joins with a link, and nobody needs to sign up.