Circle of questions
It is especially useful when the team struggles to converge on decisions through open debate, or when all members need to participate actively in the conversation, not just the most extroverted ones.
When to use it
- When the team has identified topics in earlier phases of the retrospective but finds it difficult to agree on the actions to take.
- When the debate tends to be dominated by one or two people and the facilitator wants to spread participation more evenly.
- When the team needs to listen to one another before deciding, instead of defending positions from the outset.
How to apply it
- The team sits in a circle and the facilitator explains the activity and its purpose.
- Each person turns to the person on their right and asks them a question. For example: "From your point of view, what do you think our top priority should be in the next sprint?"
- That person answers. Then they turn to the person on their right and ask a new question, which can introduce a new topic or explore the previous one in more depth.
- The same dynamic continues until the team considers that it has explored the topics sufficiently and can reach an agreement on the action plan.
- If the time limit is approaching without a resolution, the facilitator can propose a vote on the options that have emerged during the round.
In remote teams
In a remote format, the activity can be adapted by setting an explicit order of participation (taking turns in the video call chat or following a visible list) and asking each person to put a question to the next person before answering the one they have been asked. The circular format loses its physical spontaneity but keeps the structure of active listening.
Common mistake
Confusing the circle of questions with an open debate. The key difference is the structure: each person asks a question of one specific person, and that person answers before asking the next one. If the format drifts into a general debate where several people talk at once or answer without being asked, the dynamic that makes the technique work is lost. The facilitator must keep the turn order and the circle.
Resources
🔧 Diseñar una retrospectiva [Designing a retrospective] (in Spanish)Template · Scrum Manager
📄 Tercera fase de una retrospectiva: crear conocimiento [Third phase of a retrospective: generating insights] (in Spanish)Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2023
References
- Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.
See also
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