🍪 Cookie Craze
Welcome to the Cookie Craze retrospective! Let's gather around the oven, savor our sweetest successes, toss out the burnt bits, and mix up ideas for the perfect batch next sprint. Ready to bake up some agile excellence?
Template Columns
🍫 Chocolate Chips (What Went Well)
Share the delightful surprises and sweetest successes from this sprint, just like discovering extra chocolate chips in a cookie!
Base column: What Went Well🔥 Burnt Edges (What Went Wrong)
Highlight the mistakes and mishaps that left a bitter taste, so we can avoid burning our batch next time.
Base column: What Went Wrong🥄 Secret Ingredients (What We Want to Improve)
Mix in new ideas or tweaks to make our next batch even better—what should we add or change?
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
The Cookie Craze retrospective uses playful baking metaphors to help teams celebrate wins, address challenges, and brainstorm improvements in a fun, engaging way.
When to use this template
This format is ideal when your team needs an energizing, lighthearted approach to reflection, especially after a high-pressure sprint or when engagement feels low.
How to facilitate
Set the scene by introducing the Cookie Craze theme and explain each column so everyone understands the baking metaphors.
Give each team member a moment to reflect and write their thoughts privately for each column: Chocolate Chips, Burnt Edges, and Secret Ingredients.
Invite everyone to share their thoughts, starting with Chocolate Chips to celebrate wins and build positive momentum.
Move to Burnt Edges and discuss any pain points openly, focusing on learning instead of blame.
Explore Secret Ingredients by brainstorming actionable improvements or new ideas together, encouraging creative or experimental solutions.
Prioritize action items based on impact and assign clear owners for follow-up before wrapping up the session.
Pro Tips
Encourage everyone to contribute to each category—even a small win or minor issue matters for team learning.
Use playful metaphors throughout the session to lower barriers and boost candid sharing, especially around mistakes.
Celebrate one or two stand-out wins with virtual high-fives or fun GIFs to reinforce positive behaviors.
If discussion gets stuck on Burnt Edges, gently redirect with a question like, 'What can we do differently next time?'
FAQ
What if team members struggle to use the metaphors in their feedback?
Offer concrete examples for each column and reassure the team that plain feedback is welcome—the metaphors are for fun, not mandatory.
How do we avoid dwelling on negatives in the Burnt Edges phase?
Balance the conversation by anchoring it around actionable learning and moving onto positive suggestions in Secret Ingredients.
What if we have too many Secret Ingredients to address in one sprint?
Prioritize the most impactful or feasible ideas for immediate action, and keep a backlog of suggestions to revisit in future retros.
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At a glance
- Duration
35–50 min
- Team Size
3-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
What Went Well, What Went Wrong, What We Want to Improve
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective