🧊 Iceberg Expedition
Welcome to the Iceberg Expedition! Let's navigate the visible peaks and hidden depths of our project, uncovering successes above water and challenges lurking beneath, as we chart a course for smoother sailing ahead.
Template Columns
❄️ Glimmering Peaks
Celebrate the visible achievements that stood tall above the surface.
Base column: What Went Well🧊 Hidden Depths
Reveal the submerged obstacles and unseen challenges we faced.
Base column: What Went Wrong🔦 Course Correction
Identify areas to navigate smarter and avoid future pitfalls during our journey.
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
The Iceberg Expedition retrospective helps teams reflect on surface-level achievements and explore hidden challenges to chart a better course forward.
When to use this template
Use this format after significant project phases or complex sprints when you need to balance celebrating wins with surfacing deeper issues.
How to facilitate
Set the scene by explaining the iceberg metaphor: visible peaks represent successes, hidden depths are unseen challenges, and course correction is about navigating smarter.
Invite the team to share visible wins and moments of pride in the Glimmering Peaks column, encouraging everyone to recognize both big and small achievements.
Prompt the group to dive into the Hidden Depths, surfacing obstacles, frustrations, or blockers that might have gone unnoticed during the project.
Guide the team to reflect on learnings and suggest actionable improvements in the Course Correction column, focusing on future prevention or smarter navigation.
Review all entries together, group similar themes, and discuss underlying patterns or root causes.
Facilitate agreement on 1–3 concrete actions or experiments the team will take to address major improvement areas.
Close the session by acknowledging the openness of sharing both highs and lows, and confirm next steps for action follow-up.
Pro Tips
Use warm-up questions about 'icebergs' in real life to help the team get comfortable exploring below the surface.
Actively encourage quieter team members to share perspectives, as hidden issues often come from less-vocal contributors.
Allow time for reflection so team members can surface less obvious challenges, not just the urgent or recent ones.
Ensure actions are specific and have clear owners to maximize follow-through.
Make use of anonymous input options to help uncover sensitive or overlooked obstacles.
FAQ
How do we make sure hidden issues are surfaced honestly?
Foster psychological safety by framing challenges as learning points, not failures. Use anonymous input if needed and model vulnerability as a facilitator.
What if the team focuses only on visible successes?
Remind the team that many issues are 'below the waterline' and specifically prompt for things that might not be talked about day-to-day.
How do we prevent this from turning into a complaint session?
Balance discussions by celebrating achievements first, then steering problem identification toward constructive, actionable solutions.
At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
What Went Well, What Went Wrong, What We Want to Improve
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective