Celebrate the 'Feast of Gratitude' with a Thanksgiving Retrospective even in the work team? Actually, that's a good idea, because after all, the basic idea fits well with an agile retrospective: pause, appreciate the status quo and reflect.
To conduct the perfect Thanksgiving sprint retrospective (whether in Scrum or Kanban teams), you should preferably not only ask the right retrospective questions. In addition, you can also try to incorporate the traditions of Thanksgiving into the agile retrospective idea.
Icebreaker questions at the beginning of the meeting, for example, are a good way to do this. These can be general in nature, or specific to Thanksgiving retrospectives (More on: Thanksgiving).
Icebreaker questions for your Thanksgiving retrospective idea
A few good general meeting icebreakers for your agile Thanksgiving retrospective:
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- What's giving you energy and joy at the moment?
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- What was the best moment of your day yesterday?
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- What's been a big news (think of newspapers, TV etc.) lately that you are positively excited about?
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- If your last week (alternatively: our last Scrum Sprint) was a movie – what would be the title?
A few interesting Icebreaker questions specifically for Thanksgiving that can be used differently in agile Thanksgiving retrospective methods:
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- When was the last time you said "thank you" to a teammate? Name the situation. If you haven't expressed your gratitude yet, do it now.
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- Guessing Question: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, how much does the heaviest turkey ever weigh? (Answer: 86 pounds)
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- The most creative answer wins: What did President Calvin Coolidge receive as a Thanksgiving gift in 1926? (Actual answer: a live raccoon that was supposed to be Thanksgiving dinner. However, he was pardoned by the president and adopted as a pet).
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- Guessing Question: How many turkeys do Americans prepare each year for Thanksgiving? (Answer: 46 million)
Hopefully, these ideas will give you enough inspiration to kick off your Thanksgiving Retrospective idea appropriately. If you're interested in more agile retrospective icebreaker questions, feel free to check out our article on it: 21 clever, creative retrospective check-ins that will break any ice.
The best Thanksgiving retrospective: 6 ideas
After the retrospective meeting has been appropriately introduced, it is of course important to ask the right open questions. Various retrospective methods are suitable for this purpose. In the following, we have recorded five retrospective ideas for remote teams (or office or hybrid teams). Some of these are very closely tied to the Thanksgiving tradition, but some are not.
Agile Thanksgiving Retrospective Ideas
Celebrating Thanksgiving: The Classic Thanksgiving Retrospective 🐔
This Thanksgiving Retrospective takes some of the basic ideas of Thanksgiving and asks some creative questions based on them. The team should have a sense of metaphor if you decide to go with this retro idea.
Open Feedback Questions
🌾 Harvest: What circumstances influenced our harvest this sprint?
🙏 Thanks: What are you personally thankful for this sprint?
🤲 Sharing: How can you support others with your resources (knowledge, skills, decision-making power, etc.)?
🥳 Celebrate: Who should we invite to our Thanksgiving feast? (Think about other teams or outside supporters*).
Agile Thanksgiving Retrospective Ideas
Friendsgiving: A Simple and Fun Thanksgiving Retrospective 👯♀️
Thanksgiving sometimes turns into Friendsgiving: you get together with your friends to celebrate the holiday with a little fresh cider. And then, when the turkey is burning in the oven, the ups and downs almost feel like the last Scrum Sprint. We can use that as a template with the following fun Thanksgiving retrospective.
Open Feedback Questions
Friendsgiving: What are some examples of good teamwork in recent weeks?
Apple cider: what has sweetened our last weeks?
Burnt turkey: What hasn't gone so well in the last few weeks?
Agile Thanksgiving Retrospective Ideas
Celebrating the Thanksgiving Season: The Fall Retrospective 🎈
Thanksgiving is often associated with the landscape changing: The golden-brown autumn is awakening. This metaphor can also be used well as a Thanksgiving retrospective. The last question in particular should generate some interesting action item ideas.
Open Feedback Questions
🌧🍂 On which slippery wet paths did we (almost) slip?
🌧🌈 What has been your rainbow moment (favorite moment of the sprint)?
🥜🐿 What do we need to prepare to get well through the winter? (Like squirrels prepare nuts for winter)
Agile Thanksgiving Retrospective Template
Gathering new energy on Thanksgiving: The battery retrospective 🔋
Receiving a few words of thanks at the right time and in the right place can work wonders, or cause your personal energy level to rise rapidly. In this respect, the battery retrospective is also suitable for Thanksgiving: you can reflect on your own battery level and recharge it.
Open Feedback Questions
What is the current charge status of your personal battery in percent?
What has been draining your battery lately?
What has been charging your battery lately?
What would help you to save energy in the next few weeks?
Agile Thanksgiving Retrospective Template
Reaping the fruits of labor: The Farm Retrospective 🌾
Agile teams often forget what they have actually accomplished. And how much they may be reaping the fruits of the labor they sowed a few months ago. This is something you can and should remember on a regular basis, for example with the following Thanksgiving Retrospective.
Open Feedback Questions
🌱 What seeds were sown? (new started topics)
🌾 What has already been harvested? (milestones or goals already achieved)
🐞 Which bugs did we have to be careful of? (potential hazards)
🌪 How has the weather affected our harvest?🌪 (external factors that are not under our control)
Agile Thanksgiving Retrospective Template
Using Thanksgiving to Reflect: The 5 Agile Values Retrospective 5️⃣
The following retrospective idea is not closely tied to Thanksgiving, but can still be good for this day of pause. In this template, you reflect on the 5 agile values using concrete statements (so-called Health Check items). Each team member votes (anonymously at best) how much he or she agrees. Afterwards, you reflect on where there is potential for improvement. Of course, you can also try this out directly in our Echometer Retrospective Tool.
Note: This retrospective format asks for agreement with the given Health Check items on a scale.
- Courage: We value people showing courage.
- Respect: We value each other’s ideas, even when disagreeing.
- Commitment: Every team member is committed to follow through on what they have promised.
- Focus: We don’t allow ourselves to be distracted from reaching the sprint goal.
- Openness: We are open to constructive feedback and grow from it.
Conclusion: Thanksgiving Retrospective Ideas
There are different traditions and ways to celebrate Thanksgiving. And so are there different Thanksgiving retrospective ideas. Each team needs to know for itself which method – whether more creative or simple – suits its own Thanksgiving Retrospective.
One thing should not be forgotten: Deriving and tracking action items in retrospectives. Our agile retrospective tool can help you a lot with your retrospective and also the tracking of actions. Feel free to have a look at our comparison: The 7 best retrospective tools.
These retrospective ideas should provide a little inspiration. If you're still open to more retrospective ideas for Christmas and New Year, you'll find them here: 12 Retrospective Ideas for Winter, Christmas and New Year.
Otherwise, it should be obvious that there are many more Sprint Retrospective ideas on our blog – just take a look 🙂 .
For managers: 1:1 meeting templates
In addition to a healthy team retrospective, self-reflection at an individual level is also key. Perhaps you have already established regular one-to-one meetings with your team members?
If so, then I highly recommend you try out our free one-to-one tool Echometer. Finally, your team member is engaged in the conversation with our – templates and their development can be measured in figures. Give it a try by simply using one of our templates as a basis:
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Communication
Where do you see your team: How are contributions distributed?
Where do you see yourself? What role do you play, depending on the meeting?
What would be a first step to ensure that contributions are distributed more evenly within the team?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Fail forward
When was the last time you had the feeling that you had made a mistake with something?
How did you react to this mistake?
What would be a constructive view of this "mistake"?
What are the next important mistakes you need to make to get closer to your goals?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Learn from the best
Who in your team do you look up to and why?
What are the things you want to learn when you think about your colleagues in the company and beyond?
Get in touch with the people you want to learn from.
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Conflict types
Name a recent conflict you had in your team.
Take a look at the 5 different conflict styles: Can your behavior and attitude be classified into one or more of the conflict styles?
How could you have handled the conflict better?
