🎉🇺🇸 National Day Parade
March together in celebration! Reflect on our team's unity, honor our achievements, and plan the next parade of progress. Let's make our project a festival of success!
Template Columns
🥁 New Traditions to Begin
Share fresh ideas and new agile practices we should start to unite the team like a grand celebration.
Base column: Start🚫 Retire Old Habits
Identify practices or obstacles we should stop—like outgrown customs—to keep our project vibrant.
Base column: Stop🎆 Keep the Festivities Going
Highlight what’s working well and should continue, just like time-honored traditions we celebrate every year.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The National Day Parade retrospective celebrates team unity by highlighting achievements, refreshing old habits, and fostering new ideas for future success.
When to use this template
This format is perfect after completing a major milestone, launch, or to lift team spirit during a challenging period. Use it to energize the team and reinforce a shared sense of purpose.
How to facilitate
Begin with a warm welcome, setting a festive tone by encouraging everyone to recall a proud team moment from the previous iteration or project phase.
Explain each column’s theme, inviting the team to approach them as they would parade traditions—some to cherish, some to leave behind, and some brand new to try out.
Guide everyone to submit reflections across all columns in silence for a set time, encouraging a mix of ideas, observations, and suggestions.
Review each column together, grouping similar ideas and inviting clarifying questions to discover underlying themes.
Foster discussion around which 'New Traditions to Begin' are feasible, and which 'Retire Old Habits' should be prioritized for immediate change.
Celebrate the 'Keep the Festivities Going' column, acknowledging successes and highlighting positive impact on team morale.
Close with clear action items, assign owners, and recognize individual contributions to reinforce unity and shared responsibility.
Pro Tips
Invite participants to use celebratory language or images to create a lively, engaging atmosphere.
Encourage quieter team members by directly inviting their input during less active moments.
Draw parallels between project rituals and real-life traditions to spark creative thinking.
If possible, sync with a real world or company celebration to enhance the festive mood.
FAQ
How can I encourage participation from quieter team members?
Set the tone with inclusive language, call on participants directly in a warm way, and allow time for written, anonymous input.
What if the team focuses only on negatives?
Balance the discussion by guiding attention to the 'Keep the Festivities Going' column and celebrating wins before tackling areas for improvement.
How do we turn 'New Traditions' into actual changes?
Prioritize actionable suggestions, assign clear owners, and discuss how these initiatives will be measured in the next cycle.
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