🍓 Strawberry Picking Retreat
Welcome to the strawberry fields! Let's harvest the sweetest project moments, weed out the thorns, and sow seeds for future growth in our teamwork.
Template Columns
🍰 Juicy Berries Picked
Share the best harvests—project wins and teamwork highlights that made our season fruitful.
Base column: What Went Well🌵 Prickly Thorns Found
Discuss any challenges or sour berries we encountered during our sprint.
Base column: What Went Wrong🌱 Seeds to Nurture
Suggest ways we can tend our garden and ensure an even better yield next time.
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
The Strawberry Picking Retreat retrospective uses a gardening metaphor to help teams celebrate wins, address challenges, and cultivate improvements together.
When to use this template
Use this format when you want a lighthearted, fresh atmosphere for reflecting, especially after completing a significant project phase or when the team needs motivation.
How to facilitate
Set the mood by welcoming the team to your 'virtual field' and clarifying the strawberry-picking metaphor to encourage creative, open sharing.
Invite everyone to silently add notes in the Juicy Berries Picked column, highlighting team wins, successes, or positive moments.
Move to the Prickly Thorns Found column, giving space for honest discussion of obstacles, frustrations, or recurring pain points.
Focus on the Seeds to Nurture column, asking participants to suggest concrete actions or experiments for team growth and process improvement.
Review and group similar ideas in each column to identify patterns and themes as a group.
Agree on 2-3 actionable items from Seeds to Nurture, assign owners, and set follow-up plans.
Close by celebrating the team's harvest, appreciating participation, and reinforcing a growth mindset.
Pro Tips
Use imagery like backgrounds or fun icebreakers to set a relaxed, creative tone and help everyone engage with the theme.
Invite quieter team members first in the Seeds to Nurture stage to ensure all voices contribute to future improvements.
Summarize action items visually (with icons or color codes) so follow-up feels tangible and memorable after the meeting.
If certain 'thorns' repeat, explore circumstances and root causes rather than just documenting.
FAQ
How do we avoid getting stuck on the negative in Prickly Thorns?
After acknowledging challenges, consciously steer the group toward constructive solutions and balance the mood by starting and ending with positive columns.
What if we run out of improvement suggestions in Seeds to Nurture?
If ideas slow down, prompt with targeted questions or revisit previous thorns for inspiration. Share examples if the team needs a creativity boost.
Can this format be used with cross-functional or new teams?
Absolutely. The playful theme creates a safe space, and column prompts are clear regardless of team experience. Adjust language slightly for context if needed.
At a glance
- Duration
45–60 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