🛡️ Cyber Guardians
Welcome, digital defenders! Let’s review our mission to protect our fortress, celebrating strong defenses, spotting vulnerabilities, and designing stronger safeguards together. Ready your security hats and let’s fortify our next sprint!
Template Columns
🔐 Secured Gates
Highlight the security successes and shields that held strong this sprint.
Base column: What Went Well🐞 Breached Perimeters
Reveal vulnerabilities or incidents where our defenses were tested or failed.
Base column: What Went Wrong🧰 Fortress Upgrades
Suggest new safeguards, tools, or processes to strengthen our security for future battles.
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
The Cyber Guardians retrospective empowers tech teams to review and strengthen security practices, celebrating success, exposing vulnerabilities, and collaboratively designing future safeguards.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective when your team needs to focus on security practices after a release, incident, or periodic security review. It’s ideal for teams managing sensitive data or responsible for online infrastructure.
How to facilitate
Open with a welcome, set the security-focused tone, and remind the team of the importance of honest, blame-free discussion.
Ask team members to brainstorm and add items to the Secured Gates column, focusing on security measures that worked well or stopped threats.
Move to the Breached Perimeters column, inviting the team to call out vulnerabilities, incidents, or areas where defenses failed or were nearly breached.
In the Fortress Upgrades column, encourage everyone to propose new protective measures, process changes, or tools to harden defenses for the next period.
Group similar items in each column and discuss as a team, prioritizing the most impactful themes.
Identify top improvement actions from Fortress Upgrades and assign owners or next steps to ensure real follow-through.
Close by recognizing everyone’s contribution as digital defenders and outlining how changes will be communicated moving forward.
Pro Tips
Frame all discussion around learning, not blame, to foster open sharing of vulnerabilities.
Bring in recent incident data or security reports for a factual foundation and sharper insights.
Rotate the role of security champion each retro so different team members lead discussions and bring fresh perspectives.
Follow up post-retrospective with an overview of agreed actions to demonstrate commitment and accountability.
FAQ
What if team members are hesitant to share vulnerabilities?
Reinforce psychological safety and remind everyone the goal is improving, not blaming. Facilitators can share examples first to set the tone.
How do we handle recurring vulnerabilities that don’t get fixed?
Discuss root causes during the retrospective and prioritize action items, ensuring clear ownership and follow-up on solutions.
Can this template work for non-security-focused teams?
Yes, but adapt language and focus to fit the team’s context, such as data privacy or quality assurance, while keeping the collaborative spirit.
How do we keep the discussion productive and not just a list of problems?
Balance each vulnerability shared with a solution-focused mindset in the Fortress Upgrades column, aiming for clear, actionable steps.
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At a glance
- Duration
40–55 min
- Team Size
4-10 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