The Boat

⏱ 3 min  ·  📅 2026

The Sailboat is a retrospective activity that uses the metaphor of a boat sailing toward an island so the team can collectively explore what is helping it move forward, what is holding it back, what risks lie on the horizon, and to what extent it is reaching its goals. It is usually carried out in the second phase of the retrospective, which is devoted to gathering data.

The visual metaphor helps the team talk about complex situations more openly and with less emotional charge than if they were addressed directly. It lasts between 30 and 45 minutes.

The elements of the metaphor

• The boat represents the team.
• The anchor represents the obstacles holding back progress.
• The rocks represent the risks that could harm the team.
• The wind represents what is helping the team move forward.
• The island represents the goals: the extent to which the team is reaching them.

How to apply it

1. Draw a boat, an island, an anchor, rocks, and wind clouds on a whiteboard or digital canvas.
2. Assign a sticky note color to each element (except the boat): for example, blue for the island (goals), green for the wind (what helps), red for the anchor (obstacles), and yellow for the rocks (risks).
3. The team writes ideas on the corresponding sticky notes and places them on the drawing. Work is done in silence or within a time limit to prevent the first ideas from dominating the session.
4. The facilitator groups similar sticky notes and the team discusses the result, paying special attention to obstacles and risks.
5. The team votes on the three highest-priority topics to address.
6. The team agrees on a specific action related to the most-voted topic, which will be included in the next sprint.

In remote teams

The activity works well in a digital format with tools such as Miro or FigJam, where the boat drawing can be prepared in advance as a template.

In remote settings, it helps to add a silent individual writing phase before the group sharing, so that every voice carries the same weight.

Common mistake

Stopping at the diagnosis without moving to action. The Boat is very effective at bringing obstacles and risks to the surface, but its real value lies in the final step: agreeing on a specific action. If the session ends with a map full of sticky notes but no commitments, it will have produced a useful conversation but not an improvement.

Resources

🔧 Diseñar una retrospectiva [Designing a retrospective] (in Spanish)Template · Scrum Manager

📄 Segunda fase de una retrospectiva: en busca de la mejora continua [Second phase of a retrospective: in pursuit of continuous improvement] (in Spanish)Scrum Manager Blog · Aug 2023

📄 Ejemplo: cómo diseñar una sprint retrospective [Example: how to design a Sprint Retrospective] (in Spanish)Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2022

References

• Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.

See also

Retrospective Starfish Mad Sad Glad Timeline Plus/Delta Working agreements

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