🧝♂️🧙♀️ Fellowship Quest
Embark on a Middle‑earth journey, celebrating our triumphs, confronting shadows, and forging a stronger fellowship for the next sprint.
Template Columns
🌟 Radiant Triumphs
Share the victories and shining moments that lifted our fellowship.
Base column: Glad💔 Mournful Mist
Reflect on the setbacks and lingering sorrows that weighed on our quest.
Base column: Sad🔥 Smoldering Rage
Vent frustrations and fiery challenges that sparked conflict in our journey.
Base column: MadAbout this template
A themed retrospective that frames successes, setbacks, and frustrations as parts of a fellowship adventure, helping the team celebrate wins, address pain points, and align for the next sprint.
When to use this template
Use when the team enjoys narrative or game‑like formats and needs a balanced view of positives, negatives, and heated issues.
How to facilitate
Set the scene by reminding the team they are on a fellowship quest and briefly explain the three columns: Radiant Triumphs, Mournful Mist, and Smoldering Rage
Give each participant 3–5 minutes to write individual notes on sticky notes or virtual cards for each column, focusing on concrete examples from the last sprint
Collect the notes and group similar items together on the board, allowing brief clarifying comments
Facilitate a discussion starting with Radiant Triumphs, then Mournful Mist, and finally Smoldering Rage, encouraging the team to share stories, root causes, and lessons learned
Close the quest by co‑creating 2–3 actionable next‑step commitments that will strengthen the fellowship for the upcoming sprint
Pro Tips
Limit each person to three items per column to keep the board focused
When discussing Smoldering Rage use a talking‑stick or mute‑unmute rule so strong emotions stay constructive
Translate every highlighted triumph into a repeatable practice and every pain point into a concrete improvement action
FAQ
What if the team is hesitant to share negative experiences in the Smoldering Rage column?
Assure psychological safety, frame the column as a place to surface obstacles, and model openness by the facilitator sharing a minor frustration first
How do we keep the discussion from turning into a venting session?
Timebox each column to about five minutes and ask the group to suggest a possible solution or mitigation after each point before moving on
Can we combine this template with other retrospectives?
Yes, run the Fellowship Quest as a warm‑up and then transition to a deeper analysis like a 5 Whys for the most critical items
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Glad, Sad, Mad
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective