🦓🦁 Zoo Adventure

🐯 Welcome to our Zoo Adventure Retrospective! Let's explore our project habitat, celebrate our proudest animal moments, uncover any wild mishaps, and tame the obstacles together for a smoother journey ahead!
45–60 min
4-12 people
Based on: What Went Well, What Went Wrong, What We Want to Improve
🦓🦁 Zoo Adventure

Template Columns

🦚 Proud Peacocks

Show off the vibrant successes and teamwork that made our project thrive, just like peacocks displaying their feathers.

Base column: What Went Well
🐒 Monkey Mishaps

Call out any unexpected challenges or slip-ups that caused project chaos, just like monkeys stirring up trouble in the zoo!

Base column: What Went Wrong
🦏 Rhino Resolutions

Suggest powerful improvements and changes to clear the path forward, charging ahead like determined rhinos.

Base column: What We Want to Improve

About this template

The Zoo Adventure retrospective energizes your team by celebrating achievements, surfacing challenges, and powering up improvements using fun animal-inspired themes.

When to use this template

Use this format when your team needs a lively, engaging retrospective to reflect on a sprint or milestone, especially when morale could use a boost or after a period of intense change.

How to facilitate

1

Kick off the retrospective by setting the playful zoo adventure tone and reminding the team of the column themes.

2

Invite team members to populate the Proud Peacocks column with moments of success, effective teamwork, and standout achievements.

3

Move to the Monkey Mishaps column, encouraging open, blame-free sharing of the challenges and surprises that disrupted your progress.

4

Guide the team to brainstorm and add ideas to the Rhino Resolutions column, focusing on improvements or actions that will charge the team forward together.

5

Group similar topics in each column and open the floor for discussion, digging deeper into key successes, mishaps, and potential improvements.

6

Collaboratively prioritize Rhino Resolutions and agree on concrete next steps and ownership.

7

Wrap up by celebrating the team's honesty and creativity, and confirm follow-through on agreed actions.

Pro Tips

Use the animal themes to encourage lighthearted, open conversation and minimize defensiveness.

Share your own 'animal moment' first to set a transparent, fun example and invite others to join in.

Connect the successes and mishaps to team values or goals for deeper insight.

Rotate facilitators each session for fresh energy and perspective.

Capture standout animal metaphors to revisit in future retros for continuity.

FAQ

How do I keep the Zoo Adventure theme from feeling childish or forced?

Emphasize that the animal metaphors are tools to spark creativity and candid discussion, not to make light of serious project issues. Model this balance as a facilitator.

What if my team is reluctant to share 'Monkey Mishaps'?

Set a blame-free tone up front, share your own mishap, and remind the team that learning from mistakes helps everyone grow.

How do I ensure the resulting actions from 'Rhino Resolutions' stick?

Assign clear owners and measurable outcomes to each improvement, and revisit progress at the start of the next retrospective.

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At a glance

  • Duration

    45–60 min

  • Team Size

    4-12 people

  • Columns

    3 columns

  • Base Format

    What Went Well, What Went Wrong, What We Want to Improve

Tags

engagement
celebration
reflection
team morale
continuous improvement

Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective