How to use the Rose, thorn, bud template

Start a board from it
Use this template opens a new Freero board with the Rose, thorn, bud template on it (sign up free first). On a board you already have, open Templates in the toolbar and search for “Rose, thorn, bud”.
Follow the instruction on the board
“Give everyone three minutes to write, then go round the room. Put your initials on each sticky so people can follow up later.”
Fill in each part
- Rose A highlight: something that went well or made you proud.
- Thorn A struggle: something that hurt, annoyed or slowed you down.
- Bud Something new that could grow: an idea, a chance, a hope.
Bring your team and your agents
Invite people to the board or share a link, and work on it together live. The timer is in the top bar, private mode and voting in the board menu, and Claude or ChatGPT can join through Freero’s MCP server.

Work on it with an AI agent

Connect an assistant once and it works on the board with you, with your permissions: by default it reads and proposes, and people decide.

You ask: “Fill in the Rose, thorn, bud board from these notes.”
What happens It reads the board, then proposes sticky notes for it. Nothing changes until someone on the board accepts them.
You ask: “Group what we wrote into themes and list the actions.”
What happens It proposes clusters with a title each and task cards for the actions, labelled with its name and yours.

Retrospectives: Guided retros: write alone under a timer, reveal, group, vote and leave with owned actions.

Check-in round
Open a meeting so everyone has spoken once in the first five minutes: a choice of short check-in questions with example answers.
This or that
A playful 2×2 where everyone places their name: early bird or night owl, planner or improviser. A fast way to see the team’s mix.
Team journey line
Walk back through a project phase by phase, marking the highs and lows people felt, to celebrate and learn before the next one.
Check-out round
Close a meeting or workshop so nothing is left unsaid: one takeaway, one open question and how people are leaving.
Hopes and concerns
At the start of a project or workshop, everyone names what they hope for and what worries them, then the team agrees what would help.
Superpowers and weak spots
Team members share what they’re great at and where they’d love help, so the team knows who to ask for what.