Hot Air Balloon Retrospective — identifying what lifts and weighs the team down
Toutes les méthodes
RetroDébutant

Hot Air Balloon Retrospective

A visual retrospective using a hot air balloon metaphor. The balloon represents the team, hot air (flames) represents what energises and propels the team upward, sandbags represent what is weighing the team down, clouds represent risks or challenges ahead, and sunshine represents the team's aspirations or vision.

Durée
40m–1h
Taille du groupe
3–20 people
Matériel
whiteboard or flip chart, sticky notes, markers
Source
Community

Comment l'animer

  1. 1

    Draw a hot air balloon on a large surface with labelled sections: flame/hot air (what energises us), sandbags (what weighs us down), clouds (risks and obstacles ahead), sunshine (our goal/vision).

  2. 2

    Participants silently write sticky notes for each section (2–3 min per section).

  3. 3

    Share and place notes on the drawing.

  4. 4

    Cluster and discuss, starting with the sandbags (most actionable).

  5. 5

    Vote on the top sandbags to address.

  6. 6

    Define action items with owners and due dates.

Conseils

  • Particularly effective for teams feeling stuck or demotivated — the upward metaphor is subtly optimistic.

  • Draw the balloon large enough for many sticky notes.

Variantes

Add a storm cloud for external blockers outside the team's control. Use different coloured sticky notes per participant to see who raises which concerns.

Contextes d'utilisation

Sprint retrospectivesQuarterly team reviewsTeams experiencing delivery friction
🪡

Planifiez votre prochain atelier avec l'IA

Workshop Weaver vous aide à combiner des méthodes comme Hot Air Balloon Retrospective en un agenda complet et minuté en quelques minutes.

Essayer gratuitement

Method descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices.

Hot Air Balloon Retrospective — Facilitation Method | Workshop Weaver