Hot Air Balloon Retrospective

See what lifts your team and what weighs it down.

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Hot Air

What is making us fly?

Our new automated testing process has reduced bugs in production by 40%
Daily stand-ups have really improved our communication
The team's willingness to help each other has made knowledge sharing much better
Anchors

What is keeping us down?

Frequent context switching between projects is affecting our focus
The legacy system documentation is outdated and confusing
We're spending too much time in meetings instead of coding
Shout outs and Kudos

Who do we want to acknowledge?

Thanks to Sarah for staying late to help debug the production issue
Alex's patient mentoring has helped me improve my coding skills
Appreciate Jamie for implementing the new CI/CD pipeline

What is the Hot Air Balloon Retrospective?

The Hot Air Balloon retrospective pictures your team as a balloon in flight. Hot Air is whatever keeps you rising, Anchors are the things holding you down, and Shout outs and Kudos is where you thank the people who made a difference. The metaphor needs almost no explanation, so the team gets straight to examples: a testing change that cut production bugs, a legacy system nobody understands, a teammate who stayed late to debug an incident. Because recognition has its own column, good work gets named instead of being skipped on the way to the problems. It suits teams that want to keep the tone positive while still dealing with what's slowing them down. Start with Hot Air, spend most of the time on the Anchors you can actually change, and finish with kudos.

Hot Air Balloon Retrospective Format

Hot Air

What is making us fly?

This topic focuses on identifying positive forces that drive team success. Encourage participants to think about processes, practices, behaviors, and achievements that contribute to team momentum. Consider both technical and cultural aspects that help the team perform better.

Anchors

What is keeping us down?

Focus on identifying obstacles and challenges that slow down or impede team progress. Encourage honest but constructive feedback, and guide the team to discuss issues that are within their sphere of influence to change.

Shout outs and Kudos

Who do we want to acknowledge?

This is a chance to recognize and thank team members for their contributions. Ask for specific examples of how someone helped the team or set a good example. Make sure the recognition is genuine and spread across the team.

When to use this retrospective

  • When you want an upbeat retro that still deals with real problems
  • After a significant project milestone, to look back at how the team worked
  • When you need to name both what's helping the team and what's in the way
  • When the team has worked hard and deserves recognition built into the retro

Suggested icebreaker questions

  • If you could take a hot air balloon ride anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
  • What gives you the most lift or energy during your workday?

Want a warm-up your team plays, not just answers out loud? Browse free icebreakers →

Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting

  • Start with Hot Air to build momentum before you get to the challenges
  • Ask for specific examples. "Stand-ups are better" is less useful than "stand-ups now finish in 10 minutes"
  • Make sure Shout outs and Kudos covers different people and different kinds of contribution, not only the most visible work
  • Park Anchors that need people outside the team, and assign someone to raise them
  • Use dot voting to choose which Anchors to tackle first if you have a lot of them

Frequently asked questions

What is the Hot Air Balloon retrospective format?
It has three columns: Hot Air (what's making the team fly), Anchors (what's keeping it down) and Shout outs and Kudos (who deserves recognition). The team adds ideas to each, votes on the Anchors that matter most and agrees on actions.
When should you use the Hot Air Balloon retrospective?
Use it after a major project milestone, or whenever you want a positive retro that still surfaces real obstacles. The kudos column makes it a good choice when the team has been working hard and deserves to hear it.
What questions does the Hot Air Balloon retrospective ask?
What is making us fly? What is keeping us down? Who do we want to acknowledge?
How long does a Hot Air Balloon retrospective take?
About 45–60 minutes for most teams. Keep kudos short and spend most of the time on the Anchors and the actions that follow.
How is it different from the Sailboat retrospective?
Both use a travel metaphor with forces that help you and hold you back. The Sailboat retrospective adds rocks for risks ahead and an island for the goal, while Hot Air Balloon has a kudos column instead, so it looks back at the team more than ahead.

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