Retro format 12 of 27
Rose Thorn Bud retrospective
Roses are highlights, thorns are pain points, buds are ideas that could grow.
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20 people
- Great remote
Good for
A positive retro with room for problems. Easy for new teams and remote teams.
Facilitator tip
By the end, every top thorn should have a bud next to it. If none fits, that's your action.
The Rose Thorn Bud board, drawn out.
3 areas: Rose, Thorn, Bud. Draw the columns on your whiteboard before the retro. Here's what a software team might put in each.
1Rose
Release went out with zero rollbacks
2Thorn
Staging was down for two days
3Bud
A shared test data generator
How to run a Rose Thorn Bud retrospective.
About 55 minutes as written. Change the length in the agenda builder below and every step scales with it.
- 1
Check in
5 min
Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- 2
Write silently
7 min
Everyone writes at least one rose, thorn and bud.
- 3
Read out
10 min
Each person reads their three.
- 4
Group and dot-vote
5 min
Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- 5
Grow the buds
13 min
Pick the top buds and the top thorns. Which bud would remove a thorn?
- 6
Agree action items
10 min
Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- 7
Close
5 min
Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Prompts to put on the board.
Read one out when the writing stalls, or paste them next to the columns.
- What was a highlight this sprint?
- What hurt?
- What idea, if we gave it time, could make a difference?
Your Rose Thorn Bud agenda, timed to your slot.
Fill in the team and the time. Copy the agenda into Confluence, Notion or Google Docs as formatted text, or grab the Markdown.
Length
- 0:00–0:05Check in · 5 min
- 0:05–0:12Write silently · 7 min
- 0:12–0:22Read out · 10 min
- 0:22–0:27Group and dot-vote · 5 min
- 0:27–0:40Grow the buds · 13 min
- 0:40–0:50Agree action items · 10 min
- 0:50–0:55Close · 5 min
Payments team Sprint 14 retro: Rose, Thorn, Bud
Length: 55 min
Roses are highlights, thorns are pain points, buds are ideas that could grow. A positive retro with room for problems. Easy for new teams and remote teams.
Agenda
| Time | Step | Min |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Check in | 5 |
| 0:05–0:12 | Write silently | 7 |
| 0:12–0:22 | Read out | 10 |
| 0:22–0:27 | Group and dot-vote | 5 |
| 0:27–0:40 | Grow the buds | 13 |
| 0:40–0:50 | Agree action items | 10 |
| 0:50–0:55 | Close | 5 |
How to run each step
- Check in (5 min). Say why you're here and that the retro is about the system, not people. Go through last retro's action items: done, in progress, or dropped on purpose.
- Write silently (7 min). Everyone writes at least one rose, thorn and bud.
- Read out (10 min). Each person reads their three.
- Group and dot-vote (5 min). Cluster notes that say the same thing and name each cluster. Everyone gets three votes. Sort by votes.
- Grow the buds (13 min). Pick the top buds and the top thorns. Which bud would remove a thorn?
- Agree action items (10 min). Pick one to three actions from the top topics. Each gets one owner and a due date, and goes into the next sprint's backlog, not only the retro notes.
- Close (5 min). Read the actions and owners back. Ask everyone to rate the retro 1 to 5 (return on time invested) and change one thing next time if the scores are low.
Board
- Rose
- Thorn
- Bud
Prompts
- What was a highlight this sprint?
- What hurt?
- What idea, if we gave it time, could make a difference?
Last retro's action items
| Action | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|
Action items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
Copy pastes as formatted text into Google Docs, Notion or Confluence. Markdown is for GitHub, Jira or Slack.
Try next, when this one gets stale.
- 01
Start Stop Continue
- 30–60 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 18
Team Radar
- 30–50 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
- 20
What Went Well
- 30–55 min
- 2 to 20
- Great remote
Book the retro on a day the whole team is in.
A retro with two people out hears half the sprint, and its actions have no owners. Forgot shows sprints, holidays and time off on one board, so you can see who's out on retro day before you send the invite.
Rose Thorn Bud retrospective questions
What is a Rose Thorn Bud retrospective?
Roses are highlights, thorns are pain points, buds are ideas that could grow. A positive retro with room for problems. Easy for new teams and remote teams.
How long does a Rose Thorn Bud retro take?
30 minutes at the shortest, and about 55 minutes as written here. The agenda builder on this page stretches or squeezes each step to fit your slot.
Can you run Rose Thorn Bud remotely?
Yes, it works well on a video call. Set up the board on a shared whiteboard before the call, give everyone silent writing time with cameras optional, and use anonymous dot-voting.
What goes on a Rose Thorn Bud board?
3 areas: Rose, Thorn, Bud. For example, from a software team: Rose: “Release went out with zero rollbacks”; Thorn: “Staging was down for two days”; Bud: “A shared test data generator”.
What team size is Rose Thorn Bud for?
2 to 20 people. With more people, split into groups for the writing and discussion, then bring the top topics back together.
What can I run instead of Rose Thorn Bud?
Start Stop Continue, Team Radar, What Went Well. They suit similar sprints from a different angle. Rotate formats every two to four sprints so the retro doesn't go stale.