New Zealand Sailboat Retrospective

Presenting the New Zealand version of the Sailboat Retrospective.

We are a fan of visual retrospectives, having used the Sailboat template to a great extent!

If you’re familiar with the Sailboat retrospective, it asks the following questions:

1. What was our destination?
2. What were our tailwinds (positives – things that moved us forward)?
3. What were our anchors (negatives – things that held us down)?

There are many variations of the Sailboat retrospective. You could for instance, ask “Where could we crash”, and run it as a “Futurespective”.

Our NZ Adaptation

We’ve recently created a NZ version for the Sailboat retrospective that incorporates Te Ao Māori concepts and language:

• Waka - Our team vessel/boat
• Awa - The river, representing the journey and activities
• Paatai - Questions or concerns
• Hui - The gathering/meeting itself
• Winds - Forces that moved us forward

The retrospective guides teams through:

• What’s the purpose of today’s hui?
• Who’s on our waka?
• What winds moved us forward?
• What activities happened in the awa?
• What paatai do we have?
• What 2 actions will we commit to?

Template Variations

This culturally-inclusive approach helps teams connect with their identity while reflecting on their performance and planning improvements.

Download NZ Sailboat Retrospective (PDF)