🍹 Fresh Drinks Fiesta
Cheers to continuous improvement! Mix up reflections as if crafting the perfect drink—sip on wins, muddle over challenges, and stir in new ideas for a refreshing next sprint.
Template Columns
🍊 Favorite Flavors
Toast the successes and moments we relished, like savoring the best ingredients.
Base column: Liked🍋 Zesty Lessons
Extract the tangy insights and skills acquired during our sprint crafting.
Base column: Learned🥄 Missing Ingredients
Spot the essential pieces or actions missing from our mix.
Base column: Lacked🍒 Garnishes Desired
Dream up the refreshing extras or improvements to elevate our next round.
Base column: Longed ForAbout this template
The Fresh Drinks Fiesta retrospective brings a creative, lighthearted twist to team reflection, using cocktail metaphors to celebrate wins, extract lessons, identify gaps, and brainstorm improvements.
When to use this template
Use this format at the end of a sprint or project milestone when your team needs a fresh, engaging way to reflect or break out of routine retrospectives.
How to facilitate
Introduce the Fresh Drinks Fiesta theme and explain the four metaphor-based columns to set a relaxed, creative tone
Invite team members to silently add notes to each column: Favorite Flavors (successes), Zesty Lessons (insights), Missing Ingredients (gaps), and Garnishes Desired (improvements)
After silent idea generation, ask participants to review each other's notes and group similar items for clarity
Discuss the Favorite Flavors and Zesty Lessons columns first, encouraging storytelling and shared celebration
Shift focus to Missing Ingredients and Garnishes Desired, collaboratively exploring solutions or next steps for each gap or improvement area
Prioritize one or two tangible actions from the Garnishes Desired column to carry forward
Close with brief reflections on the process and toast to renewed energy for the next sprint
Pro Tips
Lean into the playful drink theme to set a collaborative, nonjudgmental mood—invite team members to bring their own drinks or virtual backgrounds
Encourage concrete examples in each column to avoid vague feedback
Keep the pace lively to maintain high energy, especially when discussing challenges
If discussions get too detailed, park items for follow-up outside the retro to stay on track
FAQ
What if team members struggle with the drink metaphors?
Briefly connect each column to its traditional meaning at the start, and reassure the team that concrete, real-world examples are more important than perfect metaphors.
How do we keep discussions balanced between celebration and improvement?
Allocate roughly equal time to each column, and guide the group from positives toward constructive actions for the future.
Is this format suitable for serious or tense team moments?
The lighthearted theme can help ease tension, but if emotions are very charged, consider a more neutral retrospective format.
How do we avoid too many action items?
At the end, help the team prioritize and focus on one or two high-impact improvements rather than spreading efforts thin.
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At a glance
- Duration
40–55 min
- Team Size
4-10 people
- Columns
4 columns
- Base Format
Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective