activities for reflection

Reflection involves evaluating your actions, analyzing the outcomes, and finding valuable lessons from your combined experiences. By engaging in mindful reflective practice, you can better understand yourself, how you make decisions, and the consequences of your actions

Why try Rose, Bud, Thorn

Looking for a reflective activity to gather feedback and improve team performance?

Activity Objective

Activity Objective Rose, Bud, Thorn is a retrospective activity that allows teams to reflect on past experiences, identify areas for improvement, and generate actionable ideas. It encourages open communication and collaboration.

Templates

PDF | Digital Whiteboard | Slides

Number of Players

1-5 (for larger groups, break people into smaller groups)

Activity Duration

30-90 minutes

Instructions

1. Introduce the objective and explain the meaning of each column:

• Rose: What should we celebrate? What went well?

• Bud: What potential opportunities or ideas should we explore?

• Thorn: What challenges or issues should we address?

1. Provide sticky notes, ask team members to write their ideas, and place them in the corresponding column. Allow 5 minutes.

2. Review the sticky notes as a team, allowing each member to explain their ideas briefly. Encourage discussion and clarification. Aim for consensus. Allocate 5 minutes per column.

3. Conduct a voting process where team members select the top three ideas in each column. Use stickers or markers to indicate votes. Allow 5 minutes.

4. Tally the votes and identify the top-ranking ideas in each column. Discuss how to prioritize and implement these ideas. Assign roles and set a timeline. Allocate 10 minutes.

5. Thank the team for their participation and emphasize the benefits of the activity. End on a positive note.

Agenda Example

• Welcome and introduction (5 minutes)

• Icebreaker Question (5 minutes)

• Rose, Bud, Thorn activity (15 minutes)

• Reflection and closing (5 minutes)

Check out our blog for planning a high-performing retrospective.

Script & Talk Track

Hello everyone! Welcome to our team feedback and improvement session. Today, we will play Rose, Bud, Thorn. This activity will help us gather valuable feedback and generate ideas to enhance our team's performance and collaboration.

We have a template with three columns: Rose, Bud, and Thorn. Each column represents a different aspect of our team's experiences. The Rose column focuses on celebrating our successes, the Bud column explores potential opportunities and new ideas, and the Thorn column addresses challenges or issues we should address.

We will use sticky notes to write our thoughts and place them in the respective column. Afterward, we'll review the ideas, vote on the top three in each column, and discuss how to prioritize and implement them. This will allow us to generate actionable steps for improvement.

The activity will take around 30 minutes, during which we will have the opportunity to:

- Share our perspectives and opinions

- Identify areas for celebration, growth, and improvement

- Generate practical ideas to enhance our team dynamics

- Align our goals and expectations

- Strengthen trust and collaboration among team members

Are you all ready to dive in? Let's begin!