☢️🏚️ Post‑Apocalypse Retro
Survive the fallout of our project: identify what rebuilds, what to abandon, and what keeps the community thriving.
Template Columns
🚀 Rebuild Initiatives
Launch new practices that help us reconstruct stronger foundations.
Base column: Start⚠️ Collapse Triggers
Identify and halt behaviors that risk project breakdown.
Base column: Stop🛡️ Resilient Defenses
Maintain the safeguards that keep our sprint world stable.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
A themed retro that treats project setbacks as post‑apocalypse challenges, helping the team decide what to rebuild, stop, and protect.
When to use this template
Use when a sprint has caused major setbacks or when the team feels the project is in crisis, needing a fresh, survival‑focused perspective.
How to facilitate
Gather the team in a virtual space, set the tone by describing the post‑apocalypse metaphor and the three columns
Ask participants to silently write down ideas for each column on sticky notes
Collect the notes, group similar items, and place them under Rebuild Initiatives, Collapse Triggers, and Resilient Defenses
Facilitate a discussion for each column, prioritizing actions that rebuild and protect while identifying blockers to stop
Vote on the top three items in each column using dot voting
Create concrete action items for the top rebuild and defense items, and assign owners
Close the retro by summarizing decisions and reinforcing the team's resilience
Pro Tips
Encourage vivid, metaphor‑rich language to keep the theme engaging
Limit each participant to three items per column to keep the board manageable
Use colored virtual stickers to differentiate rebuild, stop, and defend ideas
Allocate time for silent reflection before discussion to surface deeper insights
FAQ
What if the team feels the apocalypse theme is too dramatic?
Acknowledge the concern and frame the metaphor as a playful lens for problem‑solving; you can tone down the language or rename columns while keeping the focus on rebuilding and protecting.
How do we handle a large number of items in each column?
Group similar ideas together during the discussion and use a quick dot‑vote to surface the most critical items, then archive the rest for later review.
Can this retro be shortened for a quick check‑in?
Yes, limit brainstorming to two minutes per column and skip voting, moving straight to a concise action‑item list for the top priorities.
Want a custom template?
Create a retrospective template tailored to your team's needs with our AI-powered generator
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