🎄🎶 All I Want for Christmas is Feedback!
Gather 'round the virtual fireplace for a festive retrospective! Unwrap wins, let go of what's not jolly, and sing for improvements. Let's sleigh this sprint with cheer and make our wishlist for the next one!
Template Columns
🎁 Start Gifting New Ideas
Share new actions or innovations we should start to add more sparkle to our teamwork.
Base column: Start⛄ Stop the Holiday Hassles
Suggest things we should stop that are freezing our progress or dampening our holiday spirit.
Base column: Stop✨ Continue Spreading Cheer
Highlight traditions, practices, or behaviors we should keep to ensure our project remains merry and bright.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
A festive, holiday‑themed start‑stop‑continue retrospective that helps teams celebrate wins, drop blockers, and brainstorm new ideas.
When to use this template
Use when you want to inject fun and seasonal spirit into a sprint review, especially at the end of a quarter or before holidays.
How to facilitate
Set the mood by sharing a holiday image or music and explain the three columns: Start, Stop, Continue
Ask participants to write individual sticky notes for each column within a timebox
Collect and group similar ideas on the virtual board, encouraging brief discussion for each cluster
Vote on the most impactful items using emoji reactions to prioritize actions
Summarize the top voted items, assign owners, and capture them in the sprint backlog
Pro Tips
Use a themed timer, like a ticking Christmas bell, to keep energy high
Encourage phrasing items as “We will…”, “We stop…”, or “We continue…” for clear action language
Reserve a few minutes for a quick holiday shout‑out where team members thank each other, boosting morale
FAQ
What if the team is not in a holiday mood?
Keep the template flexible—use the same start‑stop‑continue structure without the decorations, focusing on the purpose rather than the theme.
How do we handle a large number of items?
Group similar notes together and use dot voting to surface the most important ones, limiting discussion to the top‑ranked items.
Can we use this format for non‑holiday sprints?
Absolutely; the columns work year‑round, and you can swap the festive language for neutral terms while keeping the same process.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective