The Sailboat exercise is a great way to capture better feedback than simply asking people what they think or feel.
It uses structured questions and a metaphor that helps people think deeper about the topic at hand.
Here’s how it works:
1. Draw a sailboat on your physical or virtual whiteboard, like the one in the comments.
2. Explain the metaphor to your audience.
The space above the water line represents the Wind In Our Sails, or in other words the positive things moving us forward.
The space below the water line represents our challenges and things that slow us down, like the anchor being drug behind the boat.
3. Give your audience time to place post its in the wind or water to represent their feedback.
4. Then consolidate and organize post its into similar themes.
5. Ask the group to discuss each theme. Add post its for actions to take to retain positive feedback and steps to resolve challenges.
6. Review actions at the end to make sure each has an owner.
This is a great method for retrospectives, getting feedback from people who are impacted by a change, or in many other situations.
💨 What’s moving you forward today (your wind in your sails)?
⚓️ What’s dragging you down (your anchor)?
I hope it’s a windy day for you!
