The Circle of Influence is a simple model by Stephen Covey that helps teams sort what they're dealing with into three categories: what they can control directly, what they can influence, and what only concerns them without any real leverage.
Used in a retrospective, right after collecting topics, it helps teams choose what's actually worth discussing in depth. This is especially useful for teams that keep circling back to things they can't change. They get frustrated, lose momentum, and never get to act on what's actually in their hands.
This template works for any team running retrospectives, and for facilitators who want a quick way to separate productive discussion from venting about things nobody in the room can fix.
The board includes a short how-to-use guide, example topics for each circle, and space for your own. Just copy it into your retro board after the step where you collect topics, sort together, and pick one or two topics from control or influence to dive into.
