🌱 New Growth Journey
Welcome aboard! Let’s nurture our team’s garden by exploring how we can support our new growth together. Share actions that plant seeds for collaboration, remove weeds (challenges), and water what’s already thriving.
Template Columns
🌱 Plant New Seeds
Suggest fresh initiatives or habits to help new team members take root.
Base column: Start🥀 Pull Out Weeds
Identify practices or barriers that hinder integration and should be stopped.
Base column: Stop💦 Keep Watering
Highlight supportive routines and interactions to continue for steady team growth.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The New Growth Journey retrospective helps teams nurture collaboration, support new teammates, and strengthen team culture using a garden-inspired framework.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective when onboarding new members or after your team experiences composition changes to foster integration and collaboration.
How to facilitate
Open with a welcoming message, briefly framing the session as a chance to grow together and support newcomers.
Introduce the columns, explaining how Plant New Seeds is for fresh ideas, Pull Out Weeds is for addressing blockers, and Keep Watering celebrates helpful practices.
Start a silent brainstorming phase where team members add cards to each column based on recent experiences and observations.
Invite everyone to read and react to the cards, grouping similar ideas for clarity.
Facilitate a focused discussion around each column, prompting the group to prioritize actions for both new and existing members.
Agree on concrete next steps or action owners for the most important seeds to plant and weeds to pull, as well as ways to keep watering positive habits.
Close with a shared reflection on team values and how everyone can contribute to a thriving environment.
Pro Tips
Encourage newcomers and quieter voices to share their fresh perspectives—they may spot opportunities others miss.
Use personal stories in the 'Pull Out Weeds' discussion to make challenges concrete and relatable.
During 'Keep Watering', recognize specific behaviors or rituals that make your team unique and welcoming.
Follow up after the retro to celebrate progress on new actions and remind the team of ongoing commitments.
FAQ
What if new team members hesitate to contribute?
Invite them directly but create psychological safety by emphasizing that every perspective is valuable for team growth. Consider anonymous input if it helps.
How can we turn ideas from Plant New Seeds into action?
Prioritize just a few manageable ideas and assign clear owners or next steps, then check in on progress at your next retrospective.
What if we only uncover a few 'weeds'?
Even spotting one blocker is valuable. Use open-ended questions to surface less obvious barriers—for example, ask about unwritten rules or onboarding pain points.
At a glance
- Duration
40–60 min
- Team Size
4-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective