It started when I was looking for a good tool to run retrospectives in a distributed team. I quickly learned that the tools available didn't fit for either of the reasons: the free ones were too opinionated or poorly developed; the good ones were not free. So I asked myself, "what tool could give me the freedom of a physical board and allow for smooth concurrent online editing". The answer appeared to be Google Drawings. It had some considerable advantages:
- It was completely unopinionated about facilitation techniques.
- It gave me the freedom I wanted with my virtual whiteboards.
- Most importantly, it was (and still is) totally free!
So I started creating templates with Google Drawings that I would use to run retrospecitves in my teams. Over time I built a library that I could apply to any kind of meetings where I had to facilitate online.
That's how Kiryl's Facilitation Toolkit came about. It's an extensive set of templates for different kinds of facilitated online sessions supported with guides and examples. I share it free of charge. The only thing I ask in return is to subscribe to a no-spam, value-only mailing list.
What people say
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When I had to facilitate a retrospective with a remote team, Kiryl’s FT worked like a charm: the team quickly got a grasp on how to use the tool, and all we had to do is just to trust the process. Plus you should not use screen-sharing (saving the internet bandwidth for video-call quality)—the magic instantly happens on everybody’s screens. Thanks, Kiryl!
Yuriy Koziy, Agile Coach and Managing Partner at AgileDrive
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If you’re looking for a way make your retrospectives more productive – you should definitely try this tool. It works great for distributed teams: easy-to-use, self-explanatory and compatible with any online meeting tools, doesn’t require additional meeting minutes and encourages people to participate. The icing on the cake: you don’t have to deal with handwriting 🙂
Alena Sletten, Senior Project Manager at EPAM Systems