🌟 Stellar Reflections
Blast off into our ‘Stars’ retrospective and explore the constellation of our sprint! Let’s share our supernovas, black holes, and plot a course for even brighter teamwork galaxies ahead.
Template Columns
✨ Shooting Stars
Highlight the shining successes and bright moments of our sprint journey.
Base column: What Went Well🌑 Black Holes
Identify challenges or missteps that pulled energy from our team’s orbit.
Base column: What Went Wrong🚀 Launch Trajectory
Suggest ways to increase our velocity and improve our future missions together.
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
The Stellar Reflections retrospective helps teams celebrate big wins, tackle persistent challenges, and co-create a clear path for continuous improvement using a space-themed approach.
When to use this template
Use this format after impactful sprints, when team energy feels uneven, or when you want to foster optimism and forward-thinking problem solving.
How to facilitate
Welcome the team and introduce the Stellar Reflections theme to set a creative and open tone for discussion.
Invite everyone to share their Shooting Stars—key successes and memorable highlights from the sprint.
Guide the team in surfacing Black Holes, openly discussing setbacks, blockers, or draining moments.
Transition to Launch Trajectory, encouraging the group to propose actionable ideas that will help the team move forward more effectively.
Cluster similar ideas and look for themes that connect successes, challenges, and next steps.
Facilitate a prioritization or voting process to select 1–3 ideas to implement in the coming sprint.
Wrap up with reflections on the session and a quick check-in on the team’s mood going forward.
Pro Tips
Use a collaborative digital timer for each column to keep energy and focus high.
Prompt quieter teammates with targeted questions or let them add notes anonymously first.
Highlight connections between Shooting Stars and Launch Trajectory ideas to encourage building on past wins.
Phrase Launch Trajectory actions as experiments to foster a sense of discovery.
Summarize key learnings in a shared doc or team space immediately after closing.
FAQ
What if the same issues keep appearing in Black Holes?
Acknowledge persistent issues and use Launch Trajectory to brainstorm one small but different experiment for the next sprint. Repetitive challenges signal a need for a new approach.
How do I help introverts participate more in Shooting Stars?
Allow asynchronous contributions before the live session or use digital sticky notes so everyone can add highlights comfortably.
Our Launch Trajectory column gets generic suggestions—how can I make these more actionable?
Ask for concrete next steps or examples, and clarify what will look different if the idea is implemented. Break ideas down together until they’re specific.
At a glance
- Duration
40–55 min
- Team Size
4-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
What Went Well, What Went Wrong, What We Want to Improve
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective