🦇🩸 Vampire Lair Retrospective
Enter the gothic vampire room—where bats soar, tombstones whisper, and secrets linger in dusty tomes! Let’s reflect on our project’s immortal strengths and draw wisdom from our darkest corners to feed future success.
Template Columns
🦇 Bats in the Belfry (Liked)
Share the thrilling moments that made this sprint take flight, like bats circling the moon!
Base column: Liked📚 Ancient Tomes Unveiled (Learned)
Reveal the cryptic knowledge extracted from our project’s library and what we learned along the way.
Base column: Learned🪦 Forgotten Graves (Lacked)
Uncover what was missing or neglected—those tombstones marking forgotten needs this sprint.
Base column: Lacked🩸 Thirsting for More (Longed For)
Confess the improvements or new powers you craved, to keep our bloodline thriving.
Base column: Longed ForAbout this template
The Vampire Lair Retrospective invites teams to reflect on victories, lessons learned, neglected needs, and desired improvements through a gothic, playful lens.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective when your team craves a creative, themed reflection—especially after intense sprints, challenging projects, or during seasonal events.
How to facilitate
Set the stage by introducing the Vampire Lair theme and briefly explain each column to get the team into a creative mindset.
Begin with silent brainstorming—ask everyone to add notes to each column based on their recent experiences: what soared (liked), what wisdom was uncovered (learned), what was neglected (lacked), and what they longed for (improvements).
Once ideas are shared, invite participants to briefly present or explain their notes, fostering group discussion and seeking connections or patterns.
Facilitate a conversation around the 'Forgotten Graves' and 'Thirsting for More' columns to identify collective pain points and improvement opportunities.
Guide the team to agree on a list of prioritized actions or experiments to try in the next sprint, ensuring each one addresses something revealed in the retrospective.
Close by celebrating the team's 'immortal strengths' and reflecting on how embracing both the light and shadow can help the team evolve.
Pro Tips
Lean into the theme for atmosphere—share a fun background or set your own tone to spark creativity.
Group and cluster similar notes during discussions to highlight recurring opportunities or issues.
Rotate the facilitation role or invite a team member to share a short spooky story at the start to boost engagement.
Encourage quieter voices by using anonymous note submission or rotating who shares highlights from each column.
FAQ
What if my team isn't familiar with themed retrospectives?
Explain that the theme is there to inspire creativity and fun—clarify each column’s purpose, and tie it back to your team’s real work experiences.
How can I keep the discussion balanced between serious reflection and playful engagement?
Start with lighthearted icebreakers, but refocus on outcomes and actions when discussing insights. Themed language should enhance, not distract from, purposeful reflection.
What if we don't reach consensus on actions to take forward?
Prioritize a short list of actions that address the most common needs. If consensus is tough, use dot voting or ask for volunteers to champion specific items.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-10 people
- Columns
4 columns
- Base Format
Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective