🤠🏜️ Cowboy Roundup
Saddle up and ride through our sprint frontier, sharing gold nuggets, dust-ups, and trailblazing improvements for the next adventure.
Template Columns
💰 Gold Nuggets
Highlight the successes and bright spots of our trail ride.
Base column: What Went Well⚡ Dust Storms
Identify the setbacks and challenges that slowed our herd.
Base column: What Went Wrong🛠️ Trailblazing Plans
Plan actionable steps to smooth the path ahead.
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
A fun, themed sprint retrospective where teams share successes, challenges, and actionable improvements using a cowboy motif.
When to use this template
Use when you want to energize the team with a playful theme while focusing on clear, actionable outcomes.
How to facilitate
Kick off with a quick ice‑breaker, inviting everyone to picture themselves on a frontier ride.
Create three columns on the board: Gold Nuggets, Dust Storms, and Trailblazing Plans.
Give each participant 2‑3 minutes to write individual items on virtual sticky notes for each column.
Group similar notes together and discuss the most significant Gold Nuggets, encouraging brief stories of success.
Move to Dust Storms, explore each challenge, and ask the team to identify root causes in a concise way.
For Trailblazing Plans, turn each top Dust Storm into a concrete action item, assign owners, and set a short deadline.
Pro Tips
Limit each participant to three items per column to keep the discussion focused.
Use a timer for each phase to maintain momentum and respect the timebox.
Encourage the use of emojis or icons on sticky notes to reinforce the cowboy theme.
FAQ
What if the team struggles to come up with Gold Nuggets?
Prompt them with specific prompts like “What surprised us positively?” or “Which goal did we exceed?” to spark recall.
How do we handle dominant voices during the discussion?
Use a round‑robin approach or ask quieter members to share first, ensuring balanced participation.
Can this format work for a sprint that had many setbacks?
Yes, focus on learning from Dust Storms and prioritize a few high‑impact Trailblazing Plans to restore confidence.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
5-12 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