The Remote Oasis retrospective framework encourages teams to reflect on their remote work experience, surfacing highlights, lessons learned, challenges, and wishes for improvement.

When to use this template

Use this template when your team is distributed or remote, especially after a milestone, project, or quarter to evaluate and improve your virtual collaboration.

How to facilitate

Set the stage by welcoming everyone and explaining the goal: to honestly reflect on our remote work experience in a supportive, solution-focused way.

Clarify what each column means and encourage open, thoughtful input related to working from home.

Individually, team members add their thoughts under each column: Home Highlights, Pajama Lessons, Lost Connections, and Coffee Break Wishes.

Allow everyone to read through the board, then group similar cards together as a team to spot themes.

Discuss each column as a group, focusing on recognizing the positives, sharing concrete learnings, surfacing gaps, and articulating team wishes.

Facilitate a brainstorm on actionable changes based on patterns or recurring wishes, deciding as a group which improvements to try next.

Close by summarizing takeaways and thanking the team for their openness and ideas.

Pro Tips

Invite team members to share stories or visuals from their home setups to build connection.

Use the Lost Connections column as a space to suggest creative solutions for improving remote team bonding.

Pair quieter participants with a buddy to encourage more inclusive sharing.

Reference insights from previous retros to identify progress or recurring issues.

Schedule a virtual coffee chat to follow up on social wishes raised during the session.

FAQ

What if team members are reluctant to share remote work struggles?

Normalize vulnerability by sharing your own challenges first, and create a psychologically safe environment by acknowledging all contributions as valuable.

How can we turn team wishes into concrete action?

Review recurring wishes for patterns and work together to prioritize 1-2 realistic experiments or process changes to try next sprint.

What if the conversation gets stuck on technical issues?

Acknowledge technical challenges but encourage the team to also focus on collaboration, rituals, and well-being to keep the discussion balanced.

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At a glance

Duration
45–60 min
Team Size
4-12 people
Columns
4 columns
Base Format
Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For

Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective

🏡💻 Remote Oasis

Step into our virtual oasis of remote work! Let's celebrate wins, unpack learnings, address gaps, and dream up improvements—all from the comfort of our work-from-home hideouts.

Template Columns

🛋️ Home Highlights

📝 Pajama Lessons

🔇 Lost Connections

☕ Coffee Break Wishes

About this template