Witches and Warlocks Retrospective

A Halloween retro where wins become love potions.

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Love Potion

What did we love about the last sprint?

The new pair programming sessions were incredibly helpful for knowledge sharing
Our daily standups have become much more focused and efficient
Really appreciated how the team stepped up when Sarah was on leave
Magic Wand

What do we want to transform?

Would love to reduce the time spent in unnecessary meetings
Need to improve our sprint estimation accuracy
Want better communication between dev and QA teams
The Perfect Spell

What should we aim for?

Implement automated testing for all new features
Create a mentoring program within the team
Achieve 90% sprint completion rate consistently
Crystal Ball

What do we see in our future?

We'll have a fully automated CI/CD pipeline by next quarter
Our team will become the go-to experts for cloud architecture
We'll have zero critical bugs in production
Owl

What shout-outs do we want to send?

Thanks to Mike for helping debug that tricky production issue
Appreciate Jenny's thorough documentation of the new API
Kudos to the whole team for meeting our sprint goals

What is the Witches and Warlocks Retrospective?

The Witches and Warlocks Retrospective gives your sprint review a magical theme. It works well around Halloween, and the playful framing makes it easier for people to say what they'd change. The board has five areas. Love Potion is for what the team loved about the last sprint. Magic Wand asks what you'd change if you had magical powers. The Perfect Spell turns those wishes into specific goals to aim for, and Crystal Ball looks further ahead at where the team wants to be. Owl is for shout-outs: thank-yous to the people who helped. The theme keeps the mood light, but underneath it's a standard retrospective, so you still finish with actions. Use The Perfect Spell to pick the two or three goals worth committing to, and give each one an owner.

Witches and Warlocks retrospective format

Love Potion

What did we love about the last sprint?

Ask the team for the good experiences and results from the sprint, and the things that made people happy. These notes show which practices are worth keeping.

Magic Wand

What do we want to transform?

Ask what people would change if they had a magic wand. Keep it constructive: the wand transforms things, it doesn't blame anyone. Big wishes are fine here, because The Perfect Spell is where you make them practical.

The Perfect Spell

What should we aim for?

Help the team turn wishes into specific goals that would make work better. Include quick fixes and longer-term improvements, and pick the ones the team can actually commit to.

Crystal Ball

What do we see in our future?

Ask the team to picture where it wants to be in a few months and what it would take to get there. A shared picture of the future makes it easier to agree on the next step.

Owl

What shout-outs do we want to send?

Ask for specific shout-outs: who helped, and what they did. Specific thanks lands better than general praise and shows the team which behaviors to repeat.

When to use this retrospective

  • When the team has retrospective fatigue and needs a change of scene
  • Around Halloween, or any time you want a themed retro to break up the routine
  • When you're introducing new team members to retrospectives and want the first one to feel relaxed
  • When the team needs a nudge to think more freely about solutions

Suggested icebreaker questions

  • If you could have any magical power to improve our team's work, what would it be and why?
  • What's your favorite magical creature and how does it represent your role in the team?

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

Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting

  • Use themed virtual backgrounds or a few sound effects to set the scene
  • Invite people to describe their experiences in magical terms; it often makes hard feedback easier to say
  • Keep the theme in proportion: it should get people talking, not take over the meeting
  • Keep a spell book of action items and check it at the next retrospective to see what changed
  • Give Owl its full time, since shout-outs are the first thing cut when a meeting runs long
  • Rotate who facilitates each area so more people share ownership of the session

Frequently asked questions

What is a Witches and Warlocks retrospective?
It's a Halloween-themed retrospective with five areas: Love Potion for what went well, Magic Wand for what to change, The Perfect Spell for goals, Crystal Ball for the future and Owl for shout-outs.
When should you run a Witches and Warlocks retrospective?
Around Halloween, when the team has retrospective fatigue, or when you're running a first retro with new team members and want it to feel less formal.
How is this different from a standard retrospective?
The structure is familiar (what went well, what to change, goals and shout-outs), but each area has a magical theme. The theme makes it easier to name problems without sounding critical.
How do you run a Witches and Warlocks retrospective?
Explain the five areas, then give everyone a few minutes to add notes privately. Group and vote on the Magic Wand notes, turn the top ones into goals under The Perfect Spell, and finish with Owl shout-outs.
How long does a Witches and Warlocks retrospective take?
About an hour suits most teams. Five areas is more than a standard retro, so timebox each one and keep Crystal Ball short if you're running late.

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