Waste Snake
Identify and tackle inefficiencies in your development process with the Waste Snake retrospective template. This lean-inspired technique helps teams visualize waste, categorize it appropriately, and systematically eliminate it to improve workflow efficiency and team productivity.
What Is the Waste Snake?
The Waste Snake is a collaborative retrospective tool based on Lean methodology that helps teams identify, categorize, and eliminate waste in their development processes. The visual metaphor of a snake "consuming" waste items creates an engaging way to collect inefficiencies over time. As the snake grows longer with each waste item added, it provides a powerful visual representation of the cumulative impact of process inefficiencies on your team.
The template organizes waste into nine categories derived from Lean principles, making it easier for teams to identify patterns and prioritize improvement areas. By feeding the Waste Snake, teams create a backlog of inefficiencies that can be addressed systematically to optimize workflow.
Benefits & When to Use
This template is particularly valuable when:
- Your team feels bogged down by inefficient processes but struggles to pinpoint specific issues
- You want to create awareness about different types of waste in your development workflow
- You need a low-effort, continuous way to collect improvement opportunities
- You're adopting Lean practices and want to visualize the "muda" (waste) in your system
- You want to move beyond generic retrospectives to focus specifically on efficiency problems
The Waste Snake offers several key benefits:
- Creates a fun, visual way to track inefficiencies that might otherwise be forgotten
- Helps teams learn to categorize different types of waste using Lean principles
- Encourages continuous improvement rather than just point-in-time feedback
- Provides a structured framework for tackling specific inefficiencies
- Builds a shared understanding of what constitutes "waste" in your development process
How to Run a Waste Snake Session
Time required: Initial setup (20 minutes), ongoing collection (1-2 weeks), review meeting (45-60 minutes)
Introduce the Waste Snake and waste types (15-20 minutes)
- Explain the concept of the Waste Snake and how it will help identify inefficiencies
- Review the nine waste categories with examples relevant to your team's work
- Clarify how waste items should be added to the snake (copying stickies, categorizing by color)
Set up the collection period (5 minutes)
- Determine how long you'll collect waste items (1-2 weeks works well)
- Establish expectations for participation (everyone should contribute at least one item)
- Remind the team they can add items any time they encounter waste
Collect waste items (ongoing)
- Team members add waste items to the snake whenever they encounter inefficiencies
- Each sticky note should include a brief description of the waste and its category
- Encourage everyone to contribute to ensure diverse perspectives
Review collected waste (20-25 minutes)
- Conduct a meeting to review all items added to the snake
- Group similar items together to identify patterns
- Discuss each category to understand the full context of waste items
Prioritize and plan improvements (20-30 minutes)
- Vote on the most impactful waste items to address
- For top priorities, brainstorm potential solutions or experiments
- Assign owners and set timeline expectations for addressing each selected item
- Schedule a follow-up to review progress on waste reduction efforts
Tips for a Successful Waste Snake Session
Make it accessible: Ensure the Waste Snake board is easily accessible for everyone throughout the collection period so team members can add items as they encounter waste.
Provide clear examples: For each waste category, provide specific examples relevant to your team's context to help people recognize waste when it occurs.
Focus on systems, not people: Emphasize that you're identifying process inefficiencies, not criticizing individual performance.
Start small: Begin by focusing on just 2-3 high-priority waste items rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Connect to measurable outcomes: When discussing solutions, tie waste reduction to specific business or team metrics that matter.
Detach the head and tail: If you need to make the snake longer to accommodate more waste items, the template allows you to detach and reposition the head and tail.
Be consistent: Consider making the Waste Snake a regular part of your improvement cycle, reviewing and resetting the snake quarterly.
Remember that identifying waste is just the first step—the real value comes from systematically eliminating inefficiencies and measuring the impact of those improvements.
