🧊🐧 Expedition Antarctica
Bundle up for a journey to the frozen frontier! Let's navigate the icy challenges and penguin-worthy wins of our sprint, uncovering new practices to help our team thrive in even the coldest conditions.
Template Columns
🌄 Set Up Camp (Start)
Suggest new actions or tools that will help us conquer Antarctica’s challenges together.
Base column: Start🚫 Avoid Thin Ice (Stop)
Identify practices or habits that are slowing our trek or putting us at risk in the polar landscape.
Base column: Stop🐧 Sled Onward (Continue)
Highlight the successful strategies and teamwork that keep our expedition moving strong.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
Expedition Antarctica is a Start-Stop-Continue retrospective with a playful polar twist, designed to uncover teamwork strengths and improvement areas through bold, themed exploration.
When to use this template
Use this template when your team needs a fun, energizing way to review a recent sprint, especially if you're facing tough challenges or want to rethink your strategies.
How to facilitate
Kick off the session by setting the Antarctic scene; invite everyone to imagine themselves as explorers on a challenging expedition.
Briefly explain the three columns and their themed meanings to ensure everyone understands where to add their thoughts.
Allow everyone several quiet minutes to add ideas to each column, focusing on new approaches (Set Up Camp), unhelpful habits (Avoid Thin Ice), and effective practices (Sled Onward).
Invite the team to group similar comments, discuss key themes, and clarify any points that need explanation.
Facilitate a focused discussion, encouraging the team to prioritize the most impactful changes and celebrate penguin-worthy wins.
Together, create clear action items from the 'Start' and 'Stop' columns, assigning owners if needed.
Close the retrospective by reflecting on what the 'expedition' metaphor revealed about team dynamics and resilience.
Pro Tips
Use an image or quick icebreaker about Antarctica to spark creativity and engagement at the start.
Encourage storytelling tied to the expedition metaphor to make feedback more memorable and less personal.
Bring in relevant metrics or examples to balance imaginative thinking with practical insights.
Ask team members to think about risks they didn't notice at first, using the 'thin ice' idea to uncover hidden issues.
FAQ
How is this different from a standard Start-Stop-Continue retrospective?
The Antarctic theme adds energy and storytelling, helping make feedback less intimidating and more memorable. It can boost participation and creativity.
What if some team members find the theme too whimsical?
Invite them to focus on the underlying concepts and use the theme as a lighthearted way to frame the discussion, not as a distraction from real issues.
How do we ensure we turn discussion into concrete action?
Document specific next steps with clear owners, using items from the 'Set Up Camp' and 'Avoid Thin Ice' sections, and follow up in future sprints.
At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective