🐻 Little Bear's Forest Retrospective
Gather around the campfire as a team of curious little bears! Let's explore our project forest—spotting new trails to blaze, tricky patches to avoid, and proven paths to keep walking together.
Template Columns
🌱 New Trails to Explore
Suggest fresh ideas and habits we should try on our journey through the forest.
Base column: Start🚫 Bear Traps to Avoid
Share what we should stop doing to keep our adventure safe and smooth.
Base column: Stop🍯 Honey Patches to Revisit
Highlight the good things we do that make our team thrive, just like honey for little bears!
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
Little Bear's Forest Retrospective uses playful nature imagery to help teams reflect on new opportunities, potential pitfalls, and strengths by exploring 'new trails', 'bear traps', and 'honey patches' together.
When to use this template
This retrospective works well after project sprints, before process changes, or when you want to encourage creative, safe team reflection with a friendly tone.
How to facilitate
Welcome everyone and set a relaxed, imaginative mood by inviting the group to 'gather around the campfire' as little bears.
Briefly explain each column: identify new practices (New Trails), stop unhelpful behaviors (Bear Traps), and celebrate successes (Honey Patches).
Allow everyone a few quiet minutes to add thoughts to each column, either anonymously or openly, focusing on honest, constructive input.
Invite team members to read through the board and group similar ideas together, discussing themes that emerge in each column.
Encourage open discussion for each group of ideas, starting with New Trails, then Bear Traps, and finally Honey Patches, making sure each voice is heard.
Together, agree on 1–3 concrete actions to try, traps to avoid, or strengths to reinforce before the next sprint.
End your session by having each person share one takeaway or appreciation from the retrospective.
Pro Tips
Set the tone with a quick storytelling warm-up so everyone feels connected and ready to participate.
Use simple visuals like forest backgrounds or animal icons on your board to boost engagement.
Prompt quieter team members directly in a gentle way, especially during themed discussions.
Keep generated action items visible and revisit them at the start of your next retro.
FAQ
What if the team struggles with the playful theme?
Remind everyone it's a tool to encourage open and creative thinking—serious insights are still welcome, and the theme can be as light as you all want.
How do I keep the conversation balanced across all columns?
Set time limits for each topic and rotate who starts the conversation. Gently refocus the discussion if it wanders.
What should I do if people repeat the same points as previous retros?
Acknowledge repeating themes as signals for deeper change. Ask 'What could we try to shift this pattern?' and encourage more specific suggestions.
At a glance
- Duration
35–50 min
- Team Size
3-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective