Agile Rituals
Start free

DAKI retrospective template

Drop, Add, Keep, Improve. A lightweight way to tune your process without a long discussion.

Start a DAKI retroFree. No account needed. Share the link and your team joins.

The columns and what to ask

  • Drop

    What should we stop doing because it no longer earns its cost?

  • Add

    What new practice or tool should we try?

  • Keep

    What is working and must not change?

  • Improve

    What is worth keeping but could be done better?

Best for

  • Regular process tune-ups in short retrospectives
  • Teams with established habits: meetings, ceremonies, tools
  • Deciding what to remove as well as what to add

Skip it when

  • The issue is how people feel rather than how the team works. Try Mad / Sad / Glad.
  • The team is new and has no habits worth pruning yet.

How to run it in 40 minutes

Sized for a team of up to eight. Add time for larger groups.

  1. 1

    Set the stage · 3 min

    Explain the four columns and remind everyone that the subject is how the team works, not who does what.

  2. 2

    Write cards · 8 min

    Everyone adds cards silently. Aim for specific practices, such as a meeting, a tool, a rule or a habit.

  3. 3

    Group and vote · 7 min

    Merge duplicates and vote for the changes you would most like to see.

  4. 4

    Discuss · 15 min

    Start with Drop. Removing something is what makes room for the Add cards. Then decide what to Add and what to Improve.

  5. 5

    Commit to actions · 7 min

    Choose at most one thing to drop, one to add and one to improve. Give each an owner.

Facilitation tips

  • Force a trade: for every Add you accept, ask what you would Drop to make room.
  • Look at recurring meetings first. They are the easiest thing to drop and the most common source of lost time.
  • Keep is not filler. Naming what works stops it being changed by accident.
  • Because it is quick, DAKI works well as a monthly check between fuller retrospectives.

Questions

What does DAKI stand for?
Drop, Add, Keep, Improve. It is a short format for tuning how a team works, deciding what to remove, what to introduce, what to protect and what to refine.
How is DAKI different from Start / Stop / Continue?
It adds an Improve column for things worth keeping but doing better, and Drop and Add push the team to make trade-offs rather than only pile on new habits.

Run it with your team now

Your board opens with these columns. Votes, timers and anonymous cards are built in.

Start a DAKI retro

Other retrospective formats

See all 6 templates