🎄❄️ Holiday Hearth Retro
Gather around the festive hearth to reflect on our sprint, sharing gifts of progress, shedding old habits, and lighting the way forward.
Template Columns
🎁 Start New Traditions
Identify fresh practices to begin that will bring holiday cheer to our workflow.
Base column: Start🛑 Stop the Grinch
Pinpoint habits that freeze progress and need to be halted.
Base column: Stop✨ Continue the Sparkle
Highlight the joyful practices we’ll keep shining.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
A festive sprint review that celebrates successes, discards unhelpful habits, and sets bright new practices for the upcoming sprint.
When to use this template
Use when the team wants a light‑hearted, holiday‑themed reflection that balances celebration with actionable improvement.
How to facilitate
Begin with a brief holiday ice‑breaker, such as sharing a favorite seasonal tradition, to set a warm tone.
Ask participants to write on virtual sticky notes any new practices they’d like to start, placing them in the Start New Traditions column.
Collect ideas for habits to stop, encouraging honest but respectful input, and add them to the Stop the Grinch column.
Gather the team’s existing positive practices and place them in the Continue the Sparkle column.
Facilitate a quick dot‑vote or emoji reaction on each column to surface the most important items.
Conclude by turning the top‑voted items into concrete sprint goals, assigning owners and due dates.
Pro Tips
Use holiday-themed emojis or icons on the virtual board to keep the atmosphere fun and engaging.
Limit each participant to three items per column to keep the discussion focused and timeboxed.
After the retro, send a one‑page summary with the agreed actions and a festive graphic to reinforce commitment.
FAQ
What if the team feels the holiday theme is distracting?
Acknowledge the concern, keep the theme light and optional, and focus on the core purpose of identifying actions; you can switch to a neutral board if needed.
How do we handle too many items in a column?
Group similar ideas together and use dot‑voting to prioritize the top three, ensuring the retro stays within the timebox.
Can we use this retro for non‑holiday sprints?
Yes, the structure works year‑round; simply replace the festive language with neutral terms while keeping the three‑column format.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective