Three Circles of Concern Retrospective

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Focus team effort on issues within direct control or realistic influence, parking uncontrollable concerns.

Use it when: Use during a sprint or project retrospective when a team feels stuck or drained by external organizational blockers.

Skip it when: Skip when the session goal is a single technical post-mortem or when the team has zero mandate to change its internal processes.

Group arrangement: Individual silent writing followed by facilitated whole-room sorting and action assignment

Timing: 45-minute structured sequence based on the 7-step EasyRetro template flow

Materials and tools

• Whiteboard or wall marked with 5 columns: Achievements, Issues & Concerns, Area of Control, Area of Influence, Action Items
• Sticky notes (1 pad per participant)
• Fine-tip markers (1 per participant)
• Dot stickers for voting (3 per participant)

Before participants arrive

1. Draw 5 columns on the board: Achievements, Issues & Concerns, Area of Control, Area of Influence, and Action Items.
2. Distribute sticky notes, markers, and 3 voting dots to each seat.
3. Keep the Control, Influence, and Action Items columns completely empty before starting.

Say this to open

Welcome. Today we look at our recent work together. First, we will celebrate what went well and post our open issues. Then we sort those issues by what we control, what we influence, and what sits outside our reach. Write quietly on your sticky notes, one thought per note. Sharing out loud is optional, and you can keep any note private if you prefer.

How to run it

1. Write achievements and concerns 7 minutes

   Direct participants to write notes silently for two columns only: Recognizing Achievements and Issues & Concerns. Leave the other columns blank. Example achievement: 'Resolved staging deploy script.' Example concern: 'Slow vendor approvals.' When ready, participants post notes into those two columns. Allow quiet posting without speaking.

2. Review achievements 5 minutes

   Read aloud notes from the Achievements column, or ask for up to three volunteers to give brief shout-outs. Acknowledge finished work before shifting focus to blockers.

3. Sort priority control items 8 minutes

   Point to Issues & Concerns. Ask: 'Which issues can this team resolve on its own without asking external parties for permission?' Have participants place dot stickers on the most urgent cards. Move the top 2 items with the most dots into Area of Control. Timebox discussion of edge cases to 1 minute each.

4. Draft control actions 8 minutes

   Take the 2 moved items in Area of Control one by one. Spend 4 minutes on each. Ask: 'What concrete action resolves this next cycle?' Agree on the specific action, a single named owner, and a deadline. Write this on a sticky note and place it under Action Items.

5. Sort and draft influence actions 9 minutes

   Review remaining issues. Identify items the team cannot decide alone but can influence through requests or proposals. Have the team vote to pick 1 or 2 priority items and move them to Area of Influence. Spend the remaining time drafting one specific outreach action, owner, and due date per selected item, placing each under Action Items.

6. Park remaining concerns and debrief 8 minutes

   Look at cards remaining in Issues & Concerns. Confirm these sit outside current control and influence; declare them parked on the back burner for this cycle. Ask if any parked card needs an immediate workaround. Spend the final 4 minutes on the debrief questions, taking up to 3 quick participant answers.

Debrief questions

• Which action item on our board will bring the most immediate relief next cycle?
• How did separating direct control from influence change how we view our blockers?
• What is one parked item we should accept and stop spending energy on right now?

Finished output: A board with categorized sprint observations and an Action Items column containing named owners and due dates for 3 to 4 prioritized items.

Remote

Use an online board with the 5 columns. Participants create digital notes in Step 1. In Steps 3 and 5, use the platform dot-voting tool with a limit of 3 votes per person. The facilitator moves selected cards into Control and Influence while sharing their screen.

Hybrid

Maintain the board on a shared digital canvas displayed on the room projector. In-room and remote members add cards and cast vote stamps on the same digital board. Use a central microphone so remote participants can hear and contribute to action ownership discussions.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may submit notes to the facilitator before or during the session to post anonymously.
• Speaking aloud during reviews is voluntary; participants may participate entirely through written cards and dot voting.
• Any participant may decline to take ownership of an action item.

If the session gets stuck

Participants argue over whether an issue belongs under Control or Influence.

Ask: 'Can we complete this fix tomorrow without anyone outside this room approving it?' If the answer is no, place it in Area of Influence.

The team spends excessive time venting about large company-wide policies.

Acknowledge the frustration briefly, then remind the room: 'We cannot alter corporate policy this sprint. Let us park this on the back burner and protect our time for changes we can actually make.'

Terms used here

• Area of Control: Decisions, workflows, and fixes that the team has full internal authority to implement independently.
• Area of Influence: Items the team cannot unilaterally change, but can affect through requests, recommendations, or data.
• Circle of Concern: The wide landscape of real external conditions and policies that affect the team but cannot currently be altered by them.