New Years-Themed Retrospective

New Years is a time to pause and reflect - and that applies to Scrum teams as well. So why not plan a New Years-themed Retrospective this year? Below are two options for New Years-themed Retrospectives. I suggest you pick and choose which parts make the most sense to you and leave the rest behind.

Option 1: Build a Time Capsule

Starting with a 1-2-4-All approach from LiberatingStructures.com, create a time capsule.

1) Break team members into pairs. Ask them to create a list of the team's achievements in 2025, including things such as:

• Significant achievements

• Memorable moments

• Lessons learned

• Challenges faced

• Good practices that were helpful for the team

2) Merge the pairs together to create groups of four. I call this "double dating" because pairs should not be split up but rather two pairs will join together to form a group of four. The new groups should compare ideas and eliminate duplicates and come up with their list of significant achievements, memorable moments and lessons learned.

3) Next, each group of four should present their ideas to the full group. While each group is sharing, you should create a context diagram so that similar ideas are grouped together, thus eliminating duplicates.

4) Discuss as a full group: what does the team want to carry forward into the new year—and what they want to leave behind.

Keep notes of your discussion and save it as a "time capsule" which you can look back on it at the end of 2026.

Option 2: Look Into the Crystal Ball

1) Ask your team, “If you looked into a crystal ball, what might you see happening next year?”

Think about things such as:

• New opportunities

• Potential challenges

• Skills the team may need

• Organizational or product shifts

• Areas of uncertainty

2) From the future possibilities, ask each team member to choose a Bright Star by asking the question: What is one positive theme or opportunity you hope shines brightly for our team next year?” Create a list of stars and then vote to identify the brightest star.

3) Next, ask each person to identify a Storm Cloud by asking the question: “What is one challenge or risk you realistically expect might get in our way next year?” Create a list of clouds and then vote on the one that you would most like to avoid.

4) Bring everything together by crafting a simple, intentional statement:

“This year, we commit to following the Bright Star of ______ while breaking the Storm Cloud of ______ through ______ and ______.”

5) Close this retrospective by asking the question: “What is the very first small step we can take - this Sprint - to move toward our Bright Star or break apart our Storm Cloud?”

This “first step on the yellow brick road” should be:

• Small

• Clear

• Achievable in the next Sprint

• Entirely within the team’s control

Conclusion

Keep your Retrospective clear and purposeful by using a shared whiteboard tool such as Mural or Miro to center your discussion. Time box discussions to improve engagement and keep the discussion short and purposeful.