🐐🏆 GOAT Greatness Retro

Gather the herd and celebrate our greatest achievements while spotting the bleats that need silencing—let’s sprint like champions and herd toward continuous improvement!
45–60 min
4-12 people
Based on: Start, Stop, Continue
🐐🏆 GOAT Greatness Retro

Template Columns

🌱 New Pastures

Identify fresh opportunities to begin grazing new ideas and practices.

Base column: Start
🚫 Bleating Distractions

Highlight habits or processes that cause unnecessary noise and should be silenced.

Base column: Stop
🐐 Keep the Herd Strong

Reinforce the practices that keep our herd thriving and moving forward.

Base column: Continue

About this template

A celebratory retro that highlights top wins, discovers fresh opportunities, and silences distracting habits to keep the team moving forward.

When to use this template

Use when the team has recent successes and wants to reinforce good practices while identifying noise to eliminate.

How to facilitate

1

Begin with a quick check‑in to set a positive tone and remind the purpose of the GOAT Greatness Retro

2

Ask participants to write individual notes for each column: New Pastures, Bleating Distractions, and Keep the Herd Strong

3

Collect the notes on the virtual board, grouping similar ideas together under each column

4

Facilitate a discussion for each column, celebrating the achievements, exploring new ideas, and agreeing on which distractions to stop

5

Conclude by voting on the top three actions, assigning owners, and confirming next‑step commitments

Pro Tips

Use colored sticky notes or emojis that match each column to make the board visually distinct

Limit discussion time per column with a timer to keep energy high and avoid over‑analysis

End with a quick round of gratitude to reinforce the positive culture before moving to action items

FAQ

What if the team struggles to find any Bleating Distractions?

Prompt with examples of common noise such as excessive meetings, unclear priorities, or redundant reports; this often helps surface hidden issues.

How do we keep the retro from turning into a simple praise session?

Balance celebration with concrete improvement steps by allocating equal time to each column and insisting on at least one actionable item from the Distractions column.

Can this format work for a fully remote team?

Yes, use a virtual board and ensure everyone has a stable connection; assign a co‑facilitator to monitor chat and capture any missed input.

Want a custom template?

Create a retrospective template tailored to your team's needs with our AI-powered generator

Try AI Template Generator

At a glance

  • Duration

    45–60 min

  • Team Size

    4-12 people

  • Columns

    3 columns

  • Base Format

    Start, Stop, Continue

Tags

celebration
continuous improvement
action-oriented
team health
remote-friendly

Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective