- 🍇 Cranberry Sauce
- 🦃 Thanksgiving Dinner
- 🥧 Pumpkin Pie
- 🙏 Giving Thanks
Source: Freepik
What is a Thanksgiving retrospective?
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, it's the perfect time for your team to step back and reflect on everything you've accomplished together. The Thanksgiving retrospective gets everyone in the mindset of gratitude and appreciation, while still making space for what could be better.
The format has four columns:
- 🍇 Cranberry Sauce: what was sour that could be improved?
- 🦃 Thanksgiving Dinner: what went well that we're thankful for?
- 🥧 Pumpkin Pie: what's been sweet and satisfying?
- 🙏 Giving Thanks: who deserves thanks for their hard work?
Get together with your team, help yourself to a slice of pumpkin pie, and enjoy reflecting on all you've achieved.
When should you run a Thanksgiving retro?
The Thanksgiving retro is a good choice when:
- It's late November and the holiday is coming up.
- The team has had a tough few months and needs to notice what's going well.
- You want more recognition in your retros. Two of the four columns focus on appreciation.
- You want a seasonal change after using the Autumn retrospective in October.
What goes in each column?
🍇 Cranberry Sauce: what was sour?
Cranberry sauce is a little sour, and so are some parts of every sprint. This column is for what didn't go well and could be improved.
Prompt questions:
- What frustrated you this sprint?
- What slowed the team down?
- What would you change if you could?
🦃 Thanksgiving Dinner: what are we thankful for?
The main course. This column is for the big wins and the work the team is grateful for.
Prompt questions:
- What went well that we're thankful for?
- What are we proud of?
- What should we keep doing?
🥧 Pumpkin Pie: what's been sweet?
Dessert is for the smaller, satisfying moments that are easy to overlook: a kind message from a customer, a bug finally fixed, a meeting that ended early.
Prompt questions:
- What small moment made your week?
- What's been satisfying to work on?
- What surprised you in a good way?
🙏 Giving Thanks: who deserves thanks?
End with recognition. Encourage people to thank colleagues for specific things they did, not just general effort.
Prompt questions:
- Who deserves thanks for their hard work?
- Who helped you when you were stuck?
- Whose work often goes unnoticed?
How do you run a Thanksgiving retrospective?
This plan fits a 60-minute session for a team of 5 to 15.
- Warm up (5 minutes). Ask a light question, like "what's your favourite autumn food?". Our icebreaker generator has more ideas, and you can play music while people join.
- Brainstorm (10 minutes). Everyone adds cards to the four columns on their own. Keep cards anonymous during brainstorming so Cranberry Sauce items come out honestly.
- Share and group (10 minutes). Reveal the board, starting with Thanksgiving Dinner and Pumpkin Pie. Then group similar Cranberry Sauce cards.
- Vote (5 minutes). Ask the team to vote on the Cranberry Sauce items that matter most.
- Discuss (15 minutes). Talk through the top-voted problems and ask "what would make this sweeter next sprint?".
- Agree actions (5 minutes). Pick two or three actions and assign an owner to each.
- Giving Thanks (10 minutes). Read the thanks out loud to finish on a high.
When you're done, export the retro summary so everyone can see what was agreed.
Thanksgiving retrospective examples
- 🍇 Cranberry Sauce: Code reviews sat waiting for two days.
- 🍇 Cranberry Sauce: The release was delayed by a last-minute scope change.
- 🦃 Thanksgiving Dinner: We launched the new search feature on time.
- 🦃 Thanksgiving Dinner: Our incident response was calm and quick.
- 🥧 Pumpkin Pie: A customer emailed to say the new export saved them hours.
- 🥧 Pumpkin Pie: The flaky login test is finally fixed.
- 🙏 Giving Thanks: Thanks to the design team for turning feedback around in a day.
- 🙏 Giving Thanks: Thanks to everyone who covered while others were on holiday.
Tips for a better Thanksgiving retro
- Don't skip the Cranberry Sauce. Gratitude is the theme, but the retro still needs to improve something.
- Make thanks specific. "Thanks for pairing with me on the API bug" means more than "thanks for everything".
- Include everyone. Thanksgiving is mainly a US and Canadian holiday. Explain the theme so the whole team can join in.
- Plan for absences. Many people take time off around Thanksgiving, so pick a date when most of the team is around.
Want to keep track of how the team is feeling through the busy end of the year? Pulse Surveys let you check team health between retros.
Related formats
- Autumn retrospective: another seasonal format for the end of the year.
- Halloween retrospective: a spooky format for October.
- Christmas retrospective: a Naughty and Nice retro for December.
- Rose, Bud, Thorn: a simple, balanced format for any time of year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Thanksgiving retrospective?
A Thanksgiving retrospective is a gratitude-themed retro format. Cranberry Sauce covers what was sour and could be improved, Thanksgiving Dinner covers what went well, Pumpkin Pie covers what's been sweet and satisfying, and Giving Thanks recognises the people who deserve thanks.
When should you run a Thanksgiving retro?
In the sprint before or after Thanksgiving, in late November. It also works any time the team needs a session focused on appreciation, such as after a big launch.
How long does a Thanksgiving retrospective take?
For a team of 5 to 15, plan for 45 to 60 minutes. For a shorter session, limit the discussion to the top three voted cards and finish in 30 minutes.
What's the difference between Thanksgiving Dinner and Pumpkin Pie?
Thanksgiving Dinner is for the main wins, the work the team is thankful for. Pumpkin Pie is for the smaller, sweeter moments, like a kind message from a customer or a tricky bug finally fixed. Separating them helps the small wins get noticed.
Can you run a Thanksgiving retro if your team isn't in the US?
Yes. The theme is about gratitude, which works for any team. Explain the columns at the start and keep the Thanksgiving references light so everyone feels included.
What are good alternatives to the Thanksgiving retrospective?
Try the Autumn retrospective for another seasonal theme, Rose, Bud, Thorn for a simple balanced reflection, or the Christmas retrospective in December.
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