The retrospective process - BRAINSTORM

The Brainstorm step is where your team shares ideas openly under each topic before moving on to group and prioritize them. It’s designed to capture everyone’s thoughts in a structured, collaborative way.

Add ideas under each topic

• Participants can add their ideas under each topic based on the meeting settings. The amount of time, how people add ideas (anonymity) and when ideas are revealed can be decided by the facilitator. Ideas can also be presented in turn using PRESENT mode.
• Participants can click on ideas to add additional comments, reactions and questions.
• You also have the ability to add GIFs and POLLS to accompany your idea submissions.
• Based on the meeting settings, you can run an asynchronous brainstorming session.
• When people have finished adding ideas, they can click on I'M FINISHED to let others know.

Keep the meeting moving

• Set a TIMER
  • Use the timer to show a countdown for each step. You can enable a sound alert when time runs out, and even add background music for a calm, engaging atmosphere.
  • Participants can still add ideas or request more time. The timer simply signals when time is up.

• I'm Finished
  • When a participant has finished adding their ideas, they can click I'M FINISHED. A check will also appear next to their avatar in the PARTICIPANT SIDE PANEL.

• Typing indicator
  • If a participant is typing, you’ll see an indicator in the input field and beside their avatar in the TEAM pane.

Customizing the Brainstorm step

Facilitators can customize the Brainstorm step as follows:

• CUSTOMIZE - Modify the retrospective topics and descriptors to suit you.
• SHOW OR DON'T SHOW WHO ADDED:
  • DON'T SHOW WHO ADDED hides the author (not available for fully anonymous retrospectives).
  • SHOW WHO ADDED displays the author’s avatar next to each idea.

• COLOR your ideas:
  • BY TOPIC - idea colors match the topic color.
  • BY WHO ADDED - idea colors match the color of the participant's avatar.
  • MANUALLY - manually choose the color of the idea.

• Control when participants see each other’s ideas:
  • SHOW IDEAS IMMEDIATELY so team members can build on each other’s thoughts.
  • SHOW IDEAS IN NEXT STEP to prevent group-think.

Present ideas

Once ideas are in, use PRESENT mode to sync everyone’s screens and go through each idea together.

SORT the ideas to best fit your discussion flow:

• ORIGINAL ORDER
• BY WHO ADDED
• BY TOPIC, THEN BY WHO ADDED
• RANDOMISED ORDER

This gives participants a chance to discuss, clarify, or ask questions before moving on to GROUP.