🍔🍕 Scrum Kitchen

Welcome to the Scrum Kitchen! Let’s cook up feedback, savor our wins, and spice up improvements as we serve the recipe for success in our project journey.
35–50 min
4-10 people
Based on: Glad, Sad, Mad
🍔🍕 Scrum Kitchen
Template Columns
🥗 Satisfying Bites

Share the tastiest highlights and successes from our last sprint.

Base column: Glad
🍋 Sour Notes

Express what left a bitter taste or didn’t quite work out for you.

Base column: Sad
🌶️ Spicy Frustrations

Dish out what turned up the heat or caused irritation in our process.

Base column: Mad
About this template

The Scrum Kitchen retrospective invites teams to celebrate wins, address pain points, and discuss frustrations using a fun, food-inspired format for honest and flavorful feedback.

When to use this template

Use Scrum Kitchen at the end of any sprint or project stage when you want to combine candid feedback with a lighthearted, engaging atmosphere that encourages open participation.

How to facilitate
1

Welcome the team and introduce the food-themed categories to set a relaxed, playful tone for open sharing.

2

Invite participants to add notes under Satisfying Bites (successes), Sour Notes (disappointments), and Spicy Frustrations (irritations).

3

Give everyone a minute or two to silently read others’ contributions, then group similar items together for clarity.

4

Open the floor for discussion on each column. Encourage deeper exploration of Sour Notes and Spicy Frustrations to uncover root causes.

5

As a team, identify and agree on specific actions to address the most pressing sour or spicy issues, and highlight practices that led to Satisfying Bites.

6

Wrap up by revisiting the positive highlights, thank participants for their candor, and share action owners and next steps.

Pro Tips

Set the tone by bringing food or food-related imagery—even virtually—to create a sense of fun and lower barriers.

Use the playful theme to ease into tough conversations that might otherwise feel uncomfortable.

If the group is quiet, model vulnerability by sharing your own 'spicy' or 'sour' examples first.

Encourage participants to connect their feedback to specific processes or behaviors, making the discussion actionable.

FAQ
What if people only focus on 'Satisfying Bites' and skip the negative feedback?

Remind the team that improvement comes from addressing all flavors. Share your own sour or spicy example to get things started.

How do you turn 'Spicy Frustrations' into actions rather than just complaints?

Ask the team to suggest one small experiment or change for each spicy topic, and assign responsibility collectively.

Can this format work for very serious or high-stakes sprints?

Yes, the lighthearted theme can help ease stress, but make it clear that honest, constructive feedback is vital no matter the situation.

At a glance
  • Duration

    35–50 min

  • Team Size

    4-10 people

  • Columns

    3 columns

  • Base Format

    Glad, Sad, Mad

Tags
team engagement
feedback
fun formats
agile
reflection
continuous improvement
Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective