🌹 Rose
Which specific event or practice helped us, and what should we preserve?
Example cards
- Pairing on the first API change caught an incompatible response before QA.
- The release checklist made the rollback owner clear before deployment.
Rose, Bud, Thorn Retrospective
Celebrate a concrete success, surface an opportunity worth testing, and name the friction holding the team back. Leave with one small experiment.
45–45 min3–10 people3 columns
Adjust the columns and settings before you start.
Created by Agilo
OfficialRecommended
Find the right fit
When to use it
Choose this format after a sprint, release, or team experiment when you want to notice emerging possibilities alongside successes and problems. Bud gives promising ideas their own space before they become commitments.
When to choose another format
Use an incident review for an urgent production failure. Address personal conflicts in an appropriate facilitated conversation. If the team already has too many unfinished improvements, review those before adding another experiment.
Questions that guide the conversation
Use these prompts to collect specific observations. One idea per note keeps the discussion easy to follow.
🌱 Bud
What promising possibility have we noticed but not yet tried or understood?
Example cards
- Two support questions suggest a short setup guide could reduce repeated explanations.
- A small prototype suggests contract checks could catch integration issues earlier.
🌵 Thorn
What specific obstacle, delay, or frustration made the work harder?
Example cards
- Review requests waited a full day because no reviewer was named.
- QA had to rebuild test accounts after each environment reset.
From reflection to a next step
45–45 minA suggested flow for this board. Reserve time at the end to agree on what happens next.
- 1
Set the scope 5 min
Name the sprint or release being discussed. Explain that a rose is a success, a bud is a possibility, and a thorn is friction. Review the previous improvement first.
- 2
Write independently 10 min
Give everyone quiet time to add concrete observations to all three columns. For a bud, write the opportunity and the assumption behind it, not a promised solution.
- 3
Clarify the signals 8 min
Read the cards, ask for context, and discuss related observations together. Ask what made each rose possible and what evidence makes each bud worth exploring.
- 4
Choose a discussion 5 min
Each participant has three votes across the whole board. Choose one or two topics and check whether a lower-voted risk needs attention. Voting chooses discussion priorities, not factual truth.
- 5
Design a small experiment 12 min
Explore the selected topic. Turn a bud into a time-limited trial or reduce a thorn without losing a useful rose. Choose one or two actions total, with an owner role, review date, and observable result.
- 6
Close with a check 5 min
Read back the actions and confirm that owners accept them. Decide what evidence to bring to the next retrospective. Keep unselected buds as possibilities, not hidden commitments.
Facilitator’s example
Make the next step small enough to happen
A specific observation
Illustrative example: code reviews sometimes wait a day, while pairing helped one risky change move smoothly. A short shared review slot looks promising.
A clear experiment
For the next sprint, the Tech Lead owns a 15-minute daily review slot. Record how many requests wait more than one working day and whether the slot causes interruptions; review both at the next retrospective.
Make the conversation useful
- A bud is a possibility, not an extra task automatically assigned to the team. Ask what you would need to learn before committing.
- Do not rush past roses: identify the conditions that made the success repeatable.
- If a card fits two columns, discuss the relationship rather than spending the meeting classifying it.
Before you start
How is a bud different from an action item?
A bud identifies potential. An action item is an agreed experiment with an owner and a review point. Most buds will not become actions in this meeting.
Should every column produce an action?
No. Choose one or two improvements across the whole board. You can preserve a success without creating another task.
What if the board contains only thorns?
Acknowledge the problems without forcing positivity. Ask about small things that helped and opportunities worth exploring, then focus on the most useful change.
Is participation anonymous?
This draft uses named participation. The facilitator can review the anonymity setting before creating the retrospective; do not promise anonymity without checking it.
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