🕴️🍷 The Godfather Gathering
Step into the world of famiglia. Review our project’s deals, alliances, and betrayals to ensure the family’s next move brings us nothing but respect and success. Let's make our work an offer it can't refuse!
Template Columns
🤝 New Family Traditions
Suggest new actions or habits that will strengthen our team's family bonds and future successes.
Base column: Start🚫 Sleeping with the Fishes
Identify habits, practices, or obstacles that should be left behind for the good of the family business.
Base column: Stop💼 Keep Making Offers
Highlight practices and values that keep the family thriving, and deserve to be continued.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Godfather Gathering retrospective uses a fun mafia-family theme to help teams reflect on habits, practices, and new opportunities for growth. By reviewing what works, what hinders, and what’s next, teams strengthen their 'family' bonds and set up future success.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective at the close of a major project phase or after a sprint where team dynamics and collaboration need extra attention. The engaging theme is especially valuable for reinvigorating team spirit.
How to facilitate
Introduce the retrospective's theme and explain each column, encouraging playful but respectful engagement.
Set the mood with a themed icebreaker or background music to get everyone comfortable with the concept.
Invite team members to add their thoughts to each column: new habits for bonding, things to drop, and strengths to keep.
Read out and discuss contributions in each column, starting with ideas for new traditions, moving to things to stop, and closing with practices to continue.
Facilitate connections between items, clustering similar topics and exploring root causes together.
Collaboratively select key actions for the next iteration, assigning owners and due dates where possible.
Wrap up with a gratitude round—invite everyone to thank a teammate for actions that reflect strong 'family' values.
Pro Tips
Encourage storytelling to tie points to real events—this deepens learning and adds levity.
Appoint a 'Consigliere' (co-facilitator) to help ensure all voices are heard and the mood stays light.
If discussion stalls, prompt with movie quotes or themed questions to get the conversation flowing.
Remind participants to focus on actions, not individuals, when addressing negative habits.
FAQ
What if my team isn't familiar with The Godfather?
You can briefly explain the theme or focus on the core concepts of team, loyalty, and growth—the template still works without deep movie knowledge.
How do I handle negative feedback respectfully?
Reiterate that criticism should focus on actions, not people, and guide the discussion with empathy. Use humor carefully to keep things comfortable but productive.
What if some team members don't participate?
Gently prompt quieter members with direct but open-ended questions, and consider anonymous contribution methods if needed.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 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