Avengers Retrospective

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Gather feedback across multiple work dimensions and agree on next actions.

Use it when: Use at the end of a sprint, project cycle, or quarter when a team needs a structured way to balance celebrations with operational changes.

Skip it when: Skip when the team is dealing with acute interpersonal conflict or when pop-culture metaphors feel distracting to the group culture.

Group arrangement: Individual reflection, category-assigned subgroups of 2 to 4 for clustering, and whole-group prioritization.

Timing: UWT suggested duration. Source template provided prompts without time allocations.

Materials and tools

• 6 flipchart sheets or wall sections labeled with the six categories
• Sticky notes (at least 1 pad per 2 people)
• Dark felt-tip pens (1 per person)
• Voting dots or markers for dot voting (3 dots per person)
• Digital whiteboard board if running remotely

Before participants arrive

1. Draw or post six labeled wall posters: Captain America (What do we want to protect?), Iron Man (What experiments should we try?), Hulk (What do we want to change?), Black Widow (How can we improve our team?), Thor (What are our biggest strengths?), Hawkeye (What support do we need?).
2. Place sticky notes and markers near each seat.

Say this to open

We are running an Avengers-themed retrospective today to evaluate our recent work. Each character represents a specific question about our habits, strengths, and needs. You do not need to know superhero lore; just respond directly to the question written on each poster.

How to run it

1. Introduce prompts 5 minutes

   Read through the six prompts posted on the wall. Clarify that each note should contain a single complete thought. Neutral example: under Thor, write 'Our rapid handoff between design and testing,' not just 'good work'.

2. Silent generation and posting 10 minutes

   Participants write their observations on sticky notes silently, writing at most 1 to 2 concise notes per category. Participants post their notes under the corresponding character headers as they finish.

3. Parallel clustering 10 minutes

   If the room has 4 or 5 people, work through all six posters together as one group. For 6 or more people, form 3 to 6 subgroups of 2 to 4 participants. Distribute all six posters across the subgroups so each subgroup reviews 1 or 2 posters (for example, 6 people form 3 pairs handling 2 posters each; 7 people form 2 pairs and 1 triad handling 2 posters each). Each subgroup reviews their assigned notes, merges duplicates, and clusters them into labeled themes.

4. Gallery walk and voting 5 minutes

   Give each participant 3 voting dots or marker marks. Everyone walks the room to read the clustered themes and places their votes on the clusters or notes they consider highest priority for the next cycle.

5. Build action items 15 minutes

   Take the top 2 or 3 clusters with the most votes. For each cluster, ask the room: 'What specific action will we take, who owns it, and when is it due?' Record actions with named owners on a visible flipchart. If disagreement arises, test consensus with a quick thumbs up, sideways, or down vote.

6. Debrief 5 minutes

   Ask 1 or 2 debrief questions to assess the overall outcome. Take 2 or 3 brief contributions from the room and record any final process insight at the bottom of the action list.

Debrief questions

• Looking at the board, did we uncover any unexpected blind spots in the support we need?
• Which experiment will give us the quickest feedback over the next two weeks?

Finished output: A clustered retrospective board and a documented list of prioritized action items with assigned owners.

Remote

Set up a shared digital whiteboard with six columns matching the character prompts. In step 2, participants add digital sticky notes. In step 3, assign breakout rooms or pairs to specific columns to cluster notes. In step 4, use the digital whiteboard voting tool or have participants paste emoji stamps. In step 5, record action items directly into a shared document.

Hybrid

Provide a single shared digital board that both in-person and remote participants edit simultaneously from their own devices, or pair remote members with in-person partners who act as room buddies to transcribe and post physical notes.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may submit written notes anonymously or choose to contribute only to categories of their choice.
• Anyone may pass on verbal contributions during action drafting without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Participants get distracted debating superhero trivia or character traits instead of work processes.

Refocus the room by redirecting attention back to the literal question written beneath the character name.

Notes under 'Hulk' turn into personal complaints or finger-pointing.

Intervene immediately and reframe the sticky note toward processes, tools, or team workflows rather than specific individuals.

Terms used here

• Retrospective: A structured team meeting to review a past work period and identify process adjustments.
• Silent generation: A period where participants write ideas independently without speaking to avoid anchoring.