💍🎤 Taylor Swift Engagement Era
Celebrate our team's journey like a chart-topping romance! Channel the excitement of Taylor’s engagement and share the practices we should begin, end, and maintain for a happily ever after in our project story.
Template Columns
✨ Begin Your Love Story
Share new ideas and actions we should start, just like embarking on a new chapter in Taylor’s life.
Base column: Start🚫 Break Up with What’s Not Working
Highlight habits or blockers we should leave behind, like shedding old drama before an engagement.
Base column: Stop❤️ Keep Singing the Hits
Celebrate the practices and strengths we want to continue—our greatest hits!
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Taylor Swift Engagement Era retrospective invites your team to reflect on project habits worth starting, stopping, and continuing, all with the celebratory spirit of a new beginning.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective when your team needs a fresh perspective, wants to celebrate successes, or is about to start a new phase in a project. It's especially engaging for teams who enjoy themed or creative formats.
How to facilitate
Kick off the session by introducing the Taylor Swift Engagement Era theme and briefly explain the three columns: Begin Your Love Story (Start), Break Up with What’s Not Working (Stop), and Keep Singing the Hits (Continue).
Give the team a few minutes to individually reflect and add their thoughts to each column using Kollabe's digital boards.
Once all cards are posted, ask participants to silently review the board, reading each other's items and adding any new thoughts sparked by what they see.
Facilitate a discussion, starting with the 'Begin Your Love Story' column to surface new ideas or practices the team wants to try.
Move to 'Break Up with What’s Not Working' and collaboratively identify blockers or habits to stop; encourage the team to suggest solutions or mitigations.
Wrap up with 'Keep Singing the Hits', highlighting strengths and practices to maintain; celebrate these as the team's 'greatest hits.'
Guide the team to vote on the most important actions in each column and agree on concrete steps.
Close by summarizing key takeaways and assigning owners for any agreed actions.
Pro Tips
Use playful or music-themed icebreakers to boost engagement and set a creative tone at the start.
Encourage team members to relate column contributions to real team moments, not just generic feedback.
Look for patterns in what the team wants to keep singing—the overlap signals true team strengths.
If discussion stalls, ask what the team would like their 'next chart-topping single' to be (future success).
FAQ
What if not everyone is familiar with Taylor Swift?
The themed language is for fun—the structure is familiar (start, stop, continue), so anyone can participate fully regardless of pop culture knowledge.
How do we handle too many cards in each column?
Cluster similar cards together before discussing, and prioritize with dot voting so the team focuses on the most relevant topics.
How can we ensure actions actually happen after the retro?
End the session by assigning clear owners and due dates to each action, and review progress at your next retrospective.
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At a glance
- Duration
30–40 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective