🌳🧭 Forest Explorers
Venture into the agile wilderness! As Forest Explorers, we’ll uncover hidden trails (fresh starts), clear fallen logs (blockers to stop), and nurture the tall trees (ongoing successes). Let’s blaze a better path for our journey ahead!
Template Columns
🌱 New Trails to Explore
Suggest new areas, practices, or experiments we should embark on as a team.
Base column: Start🪓 Fallen Logs to Clear
Identify obstacles, habits, or processes we should halt to keep our path clear.
Base column: Stop🌲 Tall Trees to Nurture
Celebrate initiatives and team behaviors that are thriving and should continue growing.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
Forest Explorers invites teams to reflect on new ideas, clear obstacles, and celebrate ongoing wins by drawing inspiration from exploring a forest. This engaging format helps teams uncover growth opportunities, remove blockers, and recognize collective strengths for continuous improvement.
When to use this template
Use Forest Explorers when your team needs fresh perspectives after a sprint, project phase, or when experiencing change. It's effective for energizing teams and aligning on clear next steps.
How to facilitate
Welcome the team, introduce the Forest Explorers theme, and outline each column: new trails for innovations, fallen logs for blockers, and tall trees for successes.
Set the context with a quick icebreaker, inviting everyone to share a recent 'explorer' moment from their work.
Allocate quiet time for team members to add notes to each column in Kollabe, focusing first on new trails, then fallen logs, and finally tall trees.
Facilitate sharing: invite participants to explain their notes and group similar items to spot themes.
Guide discussion around actions for new trails (what to try next), solutions for clearing fallen logs, and ways to nurture or replicate tall trees.
Prioritize two or three action items as a group, assigning owners and setting follow-ups.
Close with gratitude—ask each team member to shout out a 'tall tree' or positive from the session to finish on a high note.
Pro Tips
Frame this session as a positive journey—focus on discovery rather than just problems.
Encourage quieter team members by asking direct but open questions about new trails they'd like to explore.
Integrate visuals like a background forest image or ambient nature sounds to boost engagement online.
Share the collected notes and actions post-retro, so improvements and celebrations are visible and actionable.
FAQ
How can I encourage creative suggestions for 'New Trails to Explore'?
Prompt the team with 'what if?' scenarios and reassure everyone that experimental ideas are welcome, even if they're untested.
What if the same blockers ('Fallen Logs') appear every retro?
Address recurring items directly in the action planning—consider root cause analysis to drive real change.
How do I keep the session running on time?
Set clear timeboxes for each step, use a visible timer, and gently move the conversation forward if participants get stuck on one topic.
Want a custom template?
Create a retrospective template tailored to your team's needs with our AI-powered generator
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