🎃🌾 Pumpkin Patch Harvest
Gather round the patch to celebrate our successes, pull out the weeds, and plant fresh ideas for a bountiful sprint ahead.
Template Columns
🌱 Seeded Beginnings
Identify new actions to sow for a richer harvest.
Base column: Start✂️ Prune the Vines
Cut away practices that choke our growth.
Base column: Stop🍂 Golden Crops
Keep nurturing the successful practices that yield abundant pumpkins.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
A themed retrospective that celebrates successes, removes blockers, and seeds new ideas using a garden metaphor.
When to use this template
Best for sprint endings when the team wants a balanced view of what to keep, stop, and start, especially after a period of rapid change.
How to facilitate
Introduce the pumpkin patch metaphor and explain the three columns: Golden Crops, Prune the Vines, and Seeded Beginnings
Give each participant a few minutes to write silent observations for each column on virtual sticky notes
Collect the notes on the shared board and group similar items together
Facilitate discussion starting with Golden Crops, then move to Prune the Vines, and finish with Seeded Beginnings
Run a quick dot‑vote to highlight the most impactful items in each column
Assign owners and turn the top voted Seeded Beginnings into concrete sprint actions
Close with a brief appreciation round thanking contributors
Pro Tips
Match sticky‑note colors to the column colors to reinforce the garden theme
Limit each person to three items per column to keep the board manageable
Convert the highest‑voted Seeded Beginnings into SMART goals for the next sprint
FAQ
What if we run out of time during the discussion?
Prioritize the highest‑voted items and defer lower‑priority ideas to a follow‑up backlog or a quick async poll.
How can we ensure everyone’s voice is heard?
Start with silent writing and anonymous voting, which gives quieter team members equal influence before the group discussion.
Can this format be combined with other retrospective techniques?
Yes, you can run Pumpkin Patch Harvest as a focused segment after a quick check‑in or before a deeper action‑planning session.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective