🖤❤️💛 Juneteenth Freedom Reflections
Celebrate progress and unity! In this Juneteenth retrospective, let’s honor our journeys, acknowledge what holds us back, and commit to continuous growth—just as Juneteenth marks the path from struggle to liberation.
Template Columns
🌱 Seeds of Change (Start)
Share new ideas or actions we should plant to foster freedom, collaboration, and team progress.
Base column: Start🛑 Breaking Chains (Stop)
Identify practices or habits holding us back, just as Juneteenth broke the chains of the past.
Base column: Stop❤️ Uphold the Legacy (Continue)
Highlight strengths and positive actions we should continue to honor our legacy and move forward together.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Juneteenth Freedom Reflections retrospective empowers teams to celebrate growth, remove obstacles, and align on values-driven progress by drawing inspiration from Juneteenth's themes of liberation and unity.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective around Juneteenth or during times your team wants to reflect on progress, challenge systemic barriers, and reaffirm shared purpose.
How to facilitate
Open with a brief explanation of Juneteenth and its themes of freedom, progress, and unity to set the tone for reflection.
Invite each team member to add reflections in the 'Seeds of Change (Start)' column, brainstorming new ideas or actions to encourage collaboration and team advancement.
Ask everyone to contribute to the 'Breaking Chains (Stop)' column, surfacing habits, processes, or mindsets that limit team freedom and growth.
Encourage participants to fill in 'Uphold the Legacy (Continue),' identifying current strengths and positive behaviors that honor the team's values and legacy.
Group similar items in each column and discuss major themes together, giving everyone a chance to elaborate on their thoughts.
Facilitate prioritization or voting to select key actions or areas for improvement and assign owners where relevant.
End with a round of appreciations or acknowledgements that connect back to Juneteenth's spirit of progress and unity.
Pro Tips
Connect reflections to your team’s real challenges—don’t shy away from tough conversations that support meaningful change.
If conversations get sensitive, revisit ground rules and prioritize psychological safety throughout the session.
Relate items in 'Breaking Chains' to real workflow or cultural blockers—make the abstract actionable by identifying small first steps.
Encourage quieter team members to share by using anonymous note entries or specific invitations during discussions.
FAQ
How do we keep the conversation respectful and inclusive?
Start by setting clear ground rules for psychological safety, invite everyone to contribute, and remind the team that it's about collective growth—not blame.
What if team members aren't familiar with Juneteenth?
Begin the session with a short explanation of Juneteenth's history and relevance, focusing on universal themes like overcoming barriers and progressing as a team.
How do we turn insights from 'Breaking Chains' into action?
Ask the team to identify one or two concrete steps they can take to eliminate bottlenecks or negative habits, then assign owners for follow-up.
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