🍎🏰 Snow White and the Seven Sprints
Gather in the enchanted forest! Like Snow White and her seven dwarfs, we’ll reflect on our teamwork, banish wicked habits, and nurture what helps our project flourish. Let’s make our fairytale sprint a happy ending!
Template Columns
⛏️ Digging Up New Habits
Share new practices we should start to make our teamwork shine like diamonds!
Base column: Start🍏 Poisoned Apples to Toss
Reveal habits or blockers we should stop, just like tossing away the Wicked Queen’s apples.
Base column: Stopđź’Ž Gems to Keep Polishing
Highlight valuable practices we should continue nurturing together.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
This fairytale-themed retrospective invites teams to explore what habits to start, stop, and continue by leveraging playful metaphors from Snow White. It helps teams identify growth opportunities, eliminate blockers, and double down on what works.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective at the end of a sprint or after a major milestone when you want to shake up your team’s reflection and encourage creative thinking about habits and practices.
How to facilitate
Welcome the team to the enchanted forest and introduce the Snow White theme, explaining the meaning behind each column.
Set the mood by inviting everyone to recall one fairytale moment from the sprint to spark engagement.
Have participants add their thoughts to the three columns: new habits to try, bad habits or blockers to stop, and good practices to keep polishing.
Allow everyone to review and comment on contributions in each column, looking for patterns and discussing high-impact insights as a team.
Facilitate a focused discussion on which new habits to adopt, which poisoned apples to prioritize removing, and which gems are most vital to your success.
Select 2-3 actions to commit to as a team, assign owners, and agree on follow-up for the next sprint.
Close by celebrating your team’s magical progress and sharing one 'happily ever after' hope for the upcoming work.
Pro Tips
Encourage playful participation by referencing characters for each column—like assigning each 'poisoned apple' to a different dwarf.
Use storytelling techniques to draw out quieter team members’ thoughts, making it easier to discuss blockers and strengths.
Keep the conversation lighthearted to build psychological safety while still addressing tough topics honestly.
FAQ
How do I prevent the retrospective from getting too silly or off-topic?
Set clear expectations at the start: the theme is playful but the goal is meaningful reflection and actionable outcomes. Gently refocus the group if needed.
What if my team struggles to come up with 'new habits'?
Prompt with examples from other teams or suggest small experiments rather than major changes. Encourage everyone to contribute even just one idea.
Can this format be reused, or is it best for special occasions?
While the fairytale theme is great for variety or morale boosts, you can adapt the metaphor or rotate with other formats to keep things fresh.
At a glance
- Duration
45–60 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