What is the Chinese New Year Retrospective?
The Chinese New Year Retrospective borrows the themes of the Lunar New Year: celebrating the year that's ending, cleaning out the old before the new year arrives, and making wishes for the year ahead. Your team follows the same order, which suits any point where you want a clear break between how you've been working and what comes next. The board has four columns. Year of Achievement is for wins, big and small. Fortune and Wisdom collects the lessons the team learned from successes and setbacks alike. Spring Cleaning, named after the custom of cleaning the house before the new year, is for the habits and processes you want to leave behind. New Year Wishes is where those become specific improvements for the next cycle. Run it around the Lunar New Year, at the start of a quarter or after a long project. A minute on the traditions at the start gives everyone the context, and the celebratory mood makes it easier to be honest about what to drop.
Chinese New Year Retrospective Format
Year of Achievement
What accomplishments made you proud this past cycle?
Start with the wins. Ask for big achievements and small victories from the cycle you're reviewing, and who helped make them happen.
Fortune and Wisdom
What lessons did we learn?
This column is for lessons. Ask what the team learned from both successes and setbacks, and which lessons should shape how you work next.
Spring Cleaning
What should we leave behind as we move forward?
Before Chinese New Year, families clean their homes to sweep out the old year. Use this column for the practices, habits or processes that no longer work for the team and should be left behind.
New Year Wishes
What positive changes should we implement?
Like making wishes for the new year, this column is for the changes the team wants. Push for specific, achievable goals with an owner, so the wishes turn into actions.
When to use this retrospective
- When you want to give your team's reflection a different theme
- Around Chinese New Year, as part of the celebrations
- When your team needs a clear break between past practices and the improvements ahead
- At the start of a new quarter or project, as a fresh-start retro
Suggested icebreaker questions
- If you were a Chinese zodiac animal, which would you be and why?
- What's your favorite way to celebrate new beginnings?
Want a warm-up your team plays, not just answers out loud? Browse free icebreakers →
Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting
- Share a little about Chinese New Year traditions before you start, so everyone has the context
- Use the Chinese zodiac animals as light metaphors for different kinds of challenges or successes
- Ask people to think about the whole cycle you're reviewing, not only the last few weeks
- Use a Chinese proverb as a discussion prompt if one fits the conversation
- Keep the mood celebratory, but make sure New Year Wishes ends with specific actions
Frequently asked questions
What is a Chinese New Year retrospective?
When should you run a Chinese New Year retrospective?
How long does a Chinese New Year retrospective take?
Do you need to know Chinese New Year traditions to run it?
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