12 Retrospective Ideas for Winter, Christmas and New Year

Especially at the turn of the year, there are good opportunities to adapt the format of the retrospective to the Christmas season and New Year. In this article we share a few ideas on how good metaphors can spark creativity and reflection in the team. Have fun getting inspired!

If you’re looking for retrospective ideas that work throughout the whole year, I warmly recommend to check out our post 32 kickass retrospective ideas for agile teams.

Create the right setting for a year-end and new year retro

In every retrospective, it is important to set the right framework. Usually, retrospectives focus on the “sprint” as a reference period. Around Christmas time, it can be worthwhile to consciously stretch the frame a little further.

By consciously looking at the entire year, more comprehensive, overarching reflections can arise in the team that otherwise tend to get lost in sprint retrospectives.

In the following ideas for your Christmas, year-end or New Year’s retrospective, I always use the entire year as a frame of reference. If you prefer, you can of course simply rewrite the questions so that they refer to a shorter period of time - for example, a quarter, or a sprint.

Icebreaker Ideas for the agile Christmas Retrospective

The retro should start (according to the 6 phases of every good retrospective) with an icebreaker or a warm-up to get in the right mood for the agile workshop (see our blog post: Every good agile retrospective has these 6 phases ).

Simple, good retrospective icebreaker questions for Christmas in addition to the standard questions can be, for example, the following - you can also adapt them to New Year, of course ( Here you will find 21 Icebreaker classics for every season ):

• Reflection on the last few weeks: If our last agile sprint was Christmas, what was the weather like?
• Reflection of the last few weeks: Imagine our last sprint was the family Christmas gathering. What was the best gift (alternatively: best moment, the biggest mess…)?
• To get to know each other: What is your favorite Christmas tradition (alternatively: New Year’s tradition)?
• To get to know each other: What is your favorite meal at Christmas (alternatively: at New Year)?
• To get to know each other: What was your worst (funniest) Christmas experience (alternatively: New Year’s experience)?

If you want it to be even more visual, you can of course also use a Scrum Retrospective Whiteboard from our Echometer tool for your retro icebreaker. This is an example that might provide an interactive introduction - which face best describes your attitude towards the new year? You can also use the retro icebreaker directly in our tool for free via the button below.

Duration: 3-10 minutes

Or here’s an icebreaker variation focusing on the reflection of the last sprint:

Duration: 3-10 minutes

With these icebreakers you are well equipped to continue successfully on the retro board with the following formats:

Ideas For The Christmas Retrospective

The first two retro ideas are specifically aimed at Christmas as an occasion.

Tannenbaum Retrospective

Candles on the Christmas tree: What illuminations did we have this year?

Presents under the Christmas tree: Which of your wishes have been granted to you (perhaps by a team member) this year?

Wish list: Which wishes have unfortunately been ignored this year?

Open this retro now

Nikolaus & Knecht Ruprecht Retro

St. Nicholas: For which positive qualities and good deeds will Santa Claus praise us this year?

Servant Rupert: What negligence might Servant Rupert have noticed this year?

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Weihnachtsstern Retrospective

Direction: Where do I want guidance?

Light: What gives me light and strength?

Time: What will shine for a long time?

Constellation: Which stars can we connect, which patterns can we recognize?

Open this retro now

Ideas For The Year-End Retrospective

Are Christmas retro formats inappropriate in your team? No problem. A year-end retro can also be designed objectively without Santa Claus and a Christmas tree:

Mountaineer Retro (Review)

Detours: In retrospect, at which points did we take detours?

Obstacles: In which places did we encounter obstacles?

Bridges: What support did we received as a team along the route that we should be grateful for?

Findings: What preparation tips would we give to a team embarking on the same journey now?

Open this retro now

New Year's Eve Retrospective

Review: Which resolutions could be implemented?

Toast: What should we toast to?

Resolutions: What new resolutions do we have for next year?

Open this retro now

Ideas for the New Year retrospective

For the New Year, on the other hand, you can look further ahead in the retrospective. This works, for example, with these retro formats:

Analogous to the retrospective mountain climber retro, this format can also be used wonderfully for the outlook into the new year:

Mountaineer Retro (Outlook)

Milestones: What are the milestones on our route this year?

Obstacles: What obstacles await us on our route before each of these milestones?

Preparation: What preparations should we make / pack equipment in order to master all the milestones for the coming year in the best possible way?

Open this retro now

Fireworks Retro

Toast: Which successes of the past year can toast together?

Goodbyes: Which problems from last year would we like to say goodbye to in the coming year?

Resolutions: What resolutions could we reasonably make for the new year?

Open this retro now

5 ideas for winter retrospectives

All the presents are unwrapped, the bellies are full and the Christmas lights are switched off again. So that the lights don’t go out in your team after the holidays and you don’t fall into hibernation, we have prepared 5 ideas for winter retrospectives for you. You will be able to toboggan easily until February. Hold on tight and let’s go.

Winter Retro

Snow: What have we almost forgotten under the snow blanket?

Ice: Where do we have to be careful not to slip?

Stove: What warms us up?

Anticipation: What can we hardly wait for?

Open this retro now

Snowman Retro ⛄️

Lower ball: What is the base on which we can build?

Middle ball: What holds us together?

Head: In which direction do we want to look? What do we want to keep in mind?

Hat: What nice-to-haves would be great?

Open this retro now

Sledging Retro

Ascent: Where was it worth pulling up the sleigh?

Elevator: When would we have liked to have had a lift for support?

Sledding: Which sleigh ride was the most fun?

Obstacle: Where did we have to be careful not to fall over?

Open this retro now

Snowflakes Retro

Crystal: What makes us unique?

Snowflake: What partnerships make us strong?

Wind: What gives us momentum?

Heat: What melts us?

Open this retro now

Hibernation Retro

Sleep: What relaxes us?

Nuts: What gives us strength?

Cave: What gives us security?

Cold: What do we have to be careful of?

Open this retro now

Bonus Tips For Retrospectives

Are Christmas retro formats inappropriate in your team? No problem. A year-end retro can also be designed objectively without Santa Claus and a Christmas tree:

📚 Tips For Moderating Team Retros

Are you still inexperienced with retrospectives or do you not use the format regularly? Then the retrospective at the turn of the year is probably a very good start for you and your team.

If you would like tips for moderating retrospectives, take a look at our eBook for moderation for retrospectives . Here we have compiled all the essential tips for retrospectives in an easily understandable and compact way.

🏅 Practice Makes Perfect

Team retrospectives work best if you make them a regular routine in your team. 

We have developed Echometer so that you can easily establish this retro routine for the coming year (without having to invest hours in preparation and follow-up each time).

Echometer offers you:

• Up to 80% time savings in the preparation and follow-up of retrospectives (Ø 90 minutes per retro on 20 minutes) ⌛️
• Guaranteed success through satisfaction surveys to the team after each retro (Ø score of> 8.2 / 10) 👏
• Visualize team development through continuous team health checks 📊

Have a look how Echometer simplifies your team development and makes it measurable and try it out for yourself!

But now I wish you a wonderful and insightful retrospective at the turn of the year!

By the way, if you are still looking for a suitable retro board, our article can help you with the topic: Comparing the 6 best retrospective boards

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-on-one tool Echometer. Finally, your team member is engaged in the conversation through our templates - and, by the way, their development becomes measurable in numbers. Feel free to try it out by simply using one of our templates as a basis: