🏔️🍇 Georgian Highlands Journey
Welcome to the breathtaking landscapes of Georgia! In this retro, we'll explore our project's mountains, valleys, and vineyards—sharing what delighted, disappointed, and frustrated us on this unique adventure. Let’s toast to successes and chart a path through challenges!
Template Columns
🍷 Toasts & Toastmasters
Share the moments and results that brought joy, much like raising a glass of Georgian wine.
Base column: Glad🌧️ Rain Over Tbilisi
Reflect on the obstacles, challenges, or setbacks that dampened our spirits, as rainy days sometimes do in Tbilisi.
Base column: Sad🐉 Wrestling the Kazbegi Dragon
Express frustrations or blockers we wrestled with, just as heroes face mythical challenges in Georgian legends.
Base column: MadAbout this template
This themed retrospective uses the Georgian Highlands as inspiration, inviting teams to celebrate wins, reflect on setbacks, and surface frustrations with creativity and openness.
When to use this template
Use this format when you want to boost engagement, foster honest discussion, or energize teams after complex projects or sprints. It's ideal for teams who appreciate thematic retros to spark new insights.
How to facilitate
Welcome the team and introduce the Georgian Highlands theme to set a positive, open atmosphere.
Briefly explain each column and encourage everyone to connect their reflections to the journey motif.
Give team members time to add their thoughts asynchronously or in real-time under the three columns: Toasts & Toastmasters, Rain Over Tbilisi, and Wrestling the Kazbegi Dragon.
Invite participants to read through the collected notes and group similar items if needed, discussing patterns or repeated themes.
Facilitate a roundtable discussion, starting with toasts to celebrate wins, then moving into rain and dragon wrestling to unpack challenges and frustrations.
Guide the team to identify opportunities for growth or improvement, turning frustrations and rainy moments into actionable steps.
End the session with a collective toast to shared learning and highlight the team's resilience and collaboration.
Pro Tips
Tie specific retro moments to the theme by asking participants to use Georgian landmarks or legends as metaphors for challenges and successes.
Encourage storytelling to help surface less obvious wins or frustrations in a more engaging way.
Rotate the facilitator to keep the retro fresh and let different personalities shape the session vibe.
Prompt quieter voices using chat or anonymous cards to gather honest feedback.
Conclude by setting 1-2 concrete action items, so learning translates into clear next steps.
FAQ
What if the team is unfamiliar with Georgian culture?
Briefly introduce the theme with a visual or short anecdote, focusing on the spirit of adventure and discovery to make it accessible for everyone.
How do we prevent the session from becoming too storytelling-focused and losing actionable outcomes?
After sharing stories, direct the discussion toward extracting lessons and setting concrete action items from each main theme.
What if participants hesitate to share frustrations?
Reiterate psychological safety and offer anonymous input options, positioning frustrations as dragons everyone wrestles together—not alone.
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