What is the Treasure Hunt futurespective?

Futurespective Idea – Map a path for the team so they navigate their way to success.

What is the Treasure Hunt futurespective?

The Treasure Hunt futurespective is an agile planning tool designed to help teams create a path to success  – all while having fun! Team members define their project goal (Treasure), the risks and issues (Rocks) they may encounter, the elements that will help guide them (Navigate) and the resources (Crew) they will need along the way. The ideas they share help inform the way forward.

This futurespective lets your inner child shine! Given a treasure hunt can embrace a number of different themes (pirates, detectives, aliens, ancient egypt) this futurespective can include all sorts of creative elements. This is the fun and engaging tool to use for teams kicking from a new project or sprint, or planning that upcoming epic.

Treasure Hunt futurespective format

Treasure

What is our ultimate treasure? What’s the goal we want to reach?What do we want to deliver?

Rocks

What risks and issues could we face? What do we need to avoid? What may need a special approach to address?

Navigation

What will guide our way forward? What are our points of reference? How will we know if we’re heading in the right direction?

Crew

What skills and tools do we need? What resources do we pack? Who can we turn to for help?

Suggested icebreaker questions for the Treasure Hunt futurespective

  • What’s a treasure hunt without a few riddles? Give these ones a go.
  • What do you think is treasure that others wouldn’t?
  • For remote teams, why not warm up with a virtual scavenger hunt to get them in the mood to seek out treasures!

Retro Rehearsal

Apply the Treasure Hunt futurespective to your upcoming weekend. Define your treasure, rocks, points of navigation and crew.

Ideas and tips for your Treasure Hunt futurespective

  • Having a clear idea of the treasure is important to make sure your team is all heading for the same goals or outcomes. Having several treasures in different areas could divide resources.
  • Encourage participants to draw on their experience from other projects and their lived experiences to fill in the futurespective template.
  • Try setting up some ground rules for the futurespective such as creating team agreements.
  • Get your project off on the right foot. Consider using the futurespective to define your team’s Definition of Done.
  • Timebox conversations with the help of a timer. This will keep discussions focussed and the futurespective on track.
  • Rotate the Scrum Master. This will change the voices that are heard and give people a chance to contribute to the futurespective in a different way.
  • Use a Return on Time Invested (ROTI) tool to monitor the effectiveness of your meeting.
  • Keep your team agreements in view during your futurespective. Remember you can add to them at any time.

How to run a Treasure Hunt futurespective in TeamRetro

Start Agile Retrospective

Start your retrospective in a click
Log into TeamRetro and choose your sprint retrospective template.

Invite Your Team
Invite your team easily – no separate accounts needed
Send an email invite, a link or add to your Slack channel to get people started quickly. SSO options are also available.
Agile Retrospective Brainstorm
Time to brainstorm
Each team member can now brainstorm individually under each topic. This avoids group think and allows everyone to have their say. They can indicate when they have finished, or you can set a timer so that you know when to move onto the next stage.
Grouping of ideas after brainstorming in a retrospective meeting
Group related ideas
Drag and drop  related ideas to combine them for easier voting. TeamRetro can also automatically suggest ideas that are similar, saving you and your team valuable time.
Grouping of ideas after brainstorming in a retrospective meeting
Vote independently to avoid anchoring
Each team member votes on what they would most like to discuss further. The results won’t be displayed to everyone until you advance to Discuss.
Grouping of ideas after brainstorming in a retrospective meeting

Discuss the most important things first
You and your team discuss the top voted ideas and can capture deep dive comments.  Presentation mode allows you to walk your team through ideas one-by-one and keep the conversation focused.

Grouping of ideas after brainstorming in a retrospective meeting

Review and create actions

Easily facilitate discussion by bringing everyone onto the same page. Create action items, assign owners and due dates that will carry through for review at the next retrospective.

Grouping of ideas after brainstorming in a retrospective meeting

Share the results
Once you have finished your retro, you can share the results and actions with the team. Your retro will be stored so you can revisit them as needed.

Congratulations! You’ve just run a retro like a boss.
Want more? Read on.