Seasons of the Year Retrospective

See which season your team is in right now.

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Spring

Growing or blossoming

Started pair programming with new team members
Learning our new deployment process is starting to click
Beginning to see positive results from our documentation efforts
Summer

Sizzling or shining

Hit all our sprint goals for the past month
Customer satisfaction scores at an all-time high
Team collaboration is really flowing smoothly
Autumn

Evolving or changing

Transitioning from old processes to new methodologies
Adapting our standup format to accommodate remote team members
Letting go of outdated practices that no longer serve us
Winter

Slowing or chilling

Need to pause and reassess our testing strategy
Feeling burnt out from consecutive tight deadlines
Technical debt is freezing our progress

What is the Seasons of the Year Retrospective?

The Seasons of the Year Retrospective uses the four seasons as a way to talk about where your team is right now. Some work is starting to sprout, some is at its peak, some is changing and some has slowed to a stop. Naming a season is often easier than saying "this isn't going well," so harder topics come up sooner. The board has four areas. Spring is for new beginnings: fresh ideas, new skills and new working relationships. Summer is for what's working at its best. Autumn covers what's changing and how the team is adapting, and Winter is for what has slowed down, frozen or needs a rest. Every team goes through all four, so the format makes the point that a slow patch is part of the cycle. Run it during a period of change, or every quarter to see how the mix of seasons shifts over time.

Seasons of the Year retrospective format

Spring

Growing or blossoming

Spring is for new beginnings. Ask people for new ideas, recent learnings and opportunities that are starting to show. Ask about new skills and new working relationships too.

Summer

Sizzling or shining

Summer is the peak. Celebrate the successes and ask where the team is working at its best right now, and what's making that possible.

Autumn

Evolving or changing

Autumn is about change and getting ready for what's next. Ask how the team is adapting, what it's letting go of and how it's preparing for the challenges ahead.

Winter

Slowing or chilling

Winter is a time to slow down and plan. Ask what has stalled or frozen, what needs rest, and what the team should protect while things are quiet.

When to use this retrospective

  • When the team wants to look back over several phases of a project or of its own development
  • During significant organizational change, to help people talk through how they're adapting
  • When you want a metaphor to start a fresh conversation about how the team works
  • When the team needs to hear that slow patches and growth spurts are both part of a normal cycle

Suggested icebreaker questions

  • If your current work mood was a season, which would it be and why?
  • What's your favorite season at work, and what makes it special?

Want a warm-up your team plays, not just answers out loud? Browse free icebreakers →

Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting

  • Ask people to pick the season that fits each experience, and accept that some will fit more than one
  • Remind the team that every season has a purpose. Winter isn't automatically bad news
  • Use the change from one season to the next to talk about how the team can prepare for what's coming
  • Run it every quarter to see how the mix of seasons changes over time
  • Make it safe to raise Winter topics by treating them as the start of renewal, not as complaints

Frequently asked questions

What is a Seasons of the Year retrospective?
It's a retrospective that sorts your team's recent experience into the four seasons: Spring for new beginnings, Summer for what's at its peak, Autumn for what's changing and Winter for what has slowed or stalled.
How does the Seasons of the Year retrospective work?
Everyone adds notes on their own to the season that fits each experience. The team then groups the notes, votes on the most important and agrees on actions, often starting with what's frozen in Winter.
When should a team use this format?
Use it during organizational change, at the end of a long project with distinct phases, or every quarter to track how the team's seasons shift.
Why use a seasonal metaphor?
Seasons make change feel normal. A team in winter is in a phase, not failing, and that framing makes it easier to talk about slow patches without blame.
How long does a Seasons of the Year retrospective take?
Plan for 45 to 60 minutes: about 10 minutes per season, plus time to vote and agree on actions.

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