🎆🇺🇸 4th of July Celebration
Light up our retrospective with fireworks of reflection! Join the festivities as we celebrate our team's independence, spark new ideas, and set off strategies to keep our project thriving with liberty and unity.
Template Columns
🧨 Ignite New Traditions
Suggest fresh actions or methods to spark even greater success for our team.
Base column: Start🚫 Put Out the Duds
Identify habits or practices that fizzled and need to be retired from our process.
Base column: Stop🎇 Keep the Fireworks Going
Highlight what’s been bursting brilliantly for us and should continue to shine bright.
Base column: Continue🗽 Declare New Freedoms
Propose changes to grant us more agility, independence, or efficiency on our journey ahead.
Base column: ChangeAbout this template
The 4th of July Celebration retrospective uses festive themes to help teams reflect on successes, retire unhelpful habits, spark new ideas, and declare bold changes for increased autonomy and efficiency.
When to use this template
Use this template around the 4th of July, or anytime you want to inspire creative thinking, strengthen team unity, and mark a new phase for your project.
How to facilitate
Kick off with a quick welcome, sharing the theme and inviting the team to bring a celebratory spirit.
Briefly review guidelines for psychological safety and encourage honest, constructive input.
Have each participant add thoughts under Ignite New Traditions, sharing ideas for fresh practices or improvements.
Move to Put Out the Duds, inviting the team to call out processes, habits, or tools that are holding you back.
Next, focus on Keep the Fireworks Going, highlighting what’s working well and how it’s helped you thrive.
Collaborate in Declare New Freedoms to propose process changes or experiments that support more independence or flexibility.
Review and discuss the main points in each column as a group, clustering similar items and prioritizing actions.
Close by agreeing on ownership for key action items and celebrating both your wins and your commitment to positive change.
Pro Tips
Encourage everyone to find concrete examples to support their suggestions—real stories add impact and context.
Use a timer for each section to keep energy high and the session on track—short, focused moments mimic fireworks!
Invite quieter team members to share last, ensuring everyone's voice is heard.
Try themed icebreakers or virtual backgrounds to set the mood and make the session feel special.
FAQ
What if my team isn’t based in the US—does the 4th of July theme still work?
Absolutely—consider it a fun excuse to bring playful celebration to your retro. You can also adapt the independence theme to your team's own context or milestones.
How do we keep the session focused with a celebratory theme?
Clarify expectations up front and balance fun with timeboxing for each section. Remind the team that creative thinking can also drive real improvements.
What if we struggle to identify new freedoms or ways to increase independence?
Prompt the team with questions about bottlenecks, dependencies, or frustrations and brainstorm small experiments to try. Even small steps can boost team autonomy.
At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
4 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue, Change
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective