Discussion Guide

What the Discussion Guide Does

The discussion guide is an AI-generated facilitation aid that helps the retrospective facilitator lead a focused, productive conversation during the discuss phase. Based on the cards, groups, and vote results from the retrospective, the AI produces a structured guide with talking points, suggested questions, and time allocation recommendations.

Facilitating a retrospective discussion is challenging. You need to keep the conversation on track, ensure every voice is heard, manage time across multiple topics, and drive toward actionable outcomes. The discussion guide gives you a roadmap so you can focus on leading the conversation rather than figuring out what to talk about next.

How to Generate a Discussion Guide

To generate a discussion guide for your retrospective:

1. Complete the vote phase so the AI has voting data to prioritize topics.
2. Advance the retrospective to the discuss phase.
3. Click the "Generate discussion guide" button in the facilitator panel on the right side of the board. The button is marked with a sparkle icon.
4. Wait while the AI analyzes the cards, groups, and vote tallies. Generation typically takes five to eight seconds.
5. The guide appears in the facilitator panel, ready to reference as you lead the discussion.

You can generate the guide at any point during the discuss phase, but it works best when generated at the start, before any discussion has begun. This gives you time to review the suggestions and plan your approach.

What the Guide Includes

A typical discussion guide contains the following sections for each topic:

Topic priority order

Topics are listed in recommended discussion order, weighted by vote count and thematic significance. The highest-voted groups appear first, but the AI may also factor in dependencies between topics. For example, if a process problem is closely related to a communication issue, the AI may suggest discussing them back-to-back even if their vote counts differ.

Talking points

For each topic, the guide provides two to four key talking points that summarize what the group's cards are about. These are not scripts to read aloud — they are concise summaries to help you understand the core of each topic at a glance.

Suggested questions

Each topic includes three to five open-ended questions designed to spark productive conversation. These questions encourage the team to explore root causes, consider different perspectives, and move toward solutions. Examples include:

• "What specifically about the review process created the bottleneck?"
• "Has anyone experienced a situation where this worked well? What was different?"
• "If we could change one thing about this process next sprint, what would have the most impact?"
• "Who would need to be involved to make this change happen?"

Time suggestions

The guide recommends how many minutes to allocate to each topic based on the total time available for discussion and the relative importance of each topic. Higher-voted topics receive more time. The AI also reserves a few minutes at the end for wrap-up and action item capture.

Facilitation tips

When the AI detects topics that might be sensitive or contentious based on the card language, it includes brief facilitation tips. These might suggest reframing a topic in neutral terms, starting with data rather than opinions, or checking in with the team's comfort level before diving deep.

Using the Guide During Discussion

The discussion guide appears in a collapsible panel alongside the retrospective board. Here is how to make the most of it during a live discussion:

• Reference, do not read — The guide is a reference tool, not a script. Glance at the talking points and questions to stay oriented, but let the conversation flow naturally.
• Track time — Use the time suggestions as guardrails. If a topic is running over its allocated time, the guide helps you decide whether to extend or park the discussion for an offline follow-up.
• Pick the right questions — You do not need to ask every suggested question. Choose the ones that feel most relevant based on how the conversation is developing.
• Mark topics as discussed — Click the checkmark next to each topic in the guide as you complete it. This helps you track progress, especially in longer retrospectives.
• Skip or reorder — The suggested order is a recommendation, not a requirement. If the team's energy naturally moves toward a different topic, follow their lead.

Regenerating the Guide

If you need a fresh perspective, you can regenerate the guide at any time during the discuss phase. This is useful if:

• The discussion has taken an unexpected direction and you want updated suggestions.
• You adjusted the available time and want the time allocations recalculated.
• You merged or split groups after the initial guide was generated.

Click "Regenerate guide" in the facilitator panel to produce a new version. The previous guide is replaced, so if you want to preserve specific suggestions, note them down before regenerating.

Best Practices for Facilitators

1. Generate the guide early — Generate the guide as soon as you enter the discuss phase so you have time to review it before the conversation starts.
2. Combine with your own instincts — The AI provides a strong starting framework, but you know your team best. Add your own questions and adjust the approach based on the team's dynamics and current mood.
3. Use questions to redirect — If a discussion gets stuck in complaints without moving toward solutions, pull a forward-looking question from the guide to redirect the conversation.
4. Share selectively — While the guide is private by default, you may want to share the suggested questions with the team for certain topics. Use your judgment about what adds value to the conversation.