Use at the end of a fiscal or calendar year when the team wants to celebrate achievements, surface recurring blockers, and set strategic goals for the upcoming year.

How to facilitate

Gather the whole team in a virtual meeting, share the Year in Review board with the three columns, and explain the purpose of reflecting on the past year and planning ahead.

Ask participants to spend a few minutes silently writing individual sticky notes for each column: Fresh Starts for new ideas, Stop the Noise for things to discontinue, Keep the Momentum for practices to keep.

Invite everyone to add their notes to the board, grouping similar items together and giving each group a brief title.

Facilitate a discussion for each column, starting with Fresh Starts, then Stop the Noise, then Keep the Momentum, encouraging the team to prioritize the top three items per column using dot voting or a quick poll.

Translate the top‑voted items into concrete action items with owners and due dates, capture them in a shared document, and close the retro by thanking the team for their contributions.

Pro Tips

Allocate a separate 10‑minute buffer for the voting phase to avoid rushed decisions.

Encourage participants to think beyond the last sprint and consider company‑wide initiatives, personal growth, and process improvements.

After the retro, send a visual summary of the board and the agreed actions to keep momentum alive throughout the year.

FAQ

What if some team members are reluctant to share negative feedback in the Stop the Noise column?

Assure anonymity by allowing private note submission or using a silent chat, and remind the group that constructive criticism is essential for improvement.

How do we keep the retro from becoming a simple year‑end celebration without actionable outcomes?

Focus the discussion on prioritizing items and always end each column with concrete next steps, owners, and timelines.

Can we run this retro with multiple sub‑teams?

Yes, run parallel breakout rooms for each sub‑team to generate ideas, then reconvene to merge and vote on the combined board.

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At a glance

Duration
60–75 min
Team Size
5-15 people
Columns
3 columns
Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue

Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective

🎉📅 Year in Review Retro

Let's rewind the calendar, celebrate our milestones, learn from the missteps, and set the pace for the next 365 days in this annual retrospective!

Template Columns

🌱🚀 Fresh Starts

🛑❌ Stop the Noise

🔄📈 Keep the Momentum

About this template

When to use this template