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Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 221a1ba1e95f48c2f2957cb82f0af6f58ddcf0a76f8d14577ce6853c2d0d656e

# Holistic Advantages and Impediments Team Review

Participants silently write hidden cards across six personal and systemic dimensions, separating internal and external factors. Small working groups cluster designated columns to surface recurring themes before the whole room selects priorities and assigns action owners.

**Time:** 115 minutes. Total duration matches the 115-minute upper bound derived from JohnV's template stages (10, 5, 15, 10, 45, and 30 minutes).
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual silent writing, followed by small groups (pairs, with one trio if an odd head count) assigned to cluster input columns 1 through 6, concluding with whole-room synthesis and commitment.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Map personal upgrades, organizational advantages, and internal versus external impediments from a completed project to define assigned next steps.
**Use it when:** Use at the conclusion of a significant project or multi-team initiative when participants need to examine team mechanics, boundaries of control, and personal skills.
**Skip it when:** Skip during brief sprint retrospectives, routine weekly check-ins, or when the group has less than two hours available.

## Materials and tools

- 8 labeled poster boards or 8 columns on a digital canvas
- Printed Review Column Guide (one copy per person or pinned digitally)
- Sticky notes (around 15 per person)
- Writing pads or scratch paper (one per person for keeping in-person cards private)
- Markers or pens (one per person)
- Countdown timer

## Before participants arrive

1. Prepare eight physical board areas or digital columns labeled: 1. Personal Growth and Upgrades, 2. Existing Advantages, 3. Impediments Inside, 4. Impediments Outside, 5. Advantages Inside, 6. Advantages Outside, 7. Review Topics, 8. Next Steps and Actions.
2. Distribute one printed Review Column Guide and writing pad per person, or pin the guide in the digital workspace.
3. If running digitally, activate private writing mode so notes remain concealed until revealed.
4. If running in person, instruct participants to write on pads at their seats and keep cards face down rather than posting them immediately.

## Say this to open

We are conducting a comprehensive review of our completed project. Refer to your Review Column Guide as we move through each phase. We will look at personal skills, team habits, and outside influences. To prevent anchor bias from shaping what others write, write your notes privately and keep them hidden. We will reveal the board together and analyze themes in assigned small groups before committing to actions.

## How to run it

### 1. Draft Personal Growth and Upgrades (10 minutes)

Introduce Column 1 using the reference guide. Invite participants to write 1 or 2 cards naming personal skills they improved or new areas they want to pursue next based on this project. Everyone keeps their cards private and face down.

### 2. Inventory Existing Advantages (5 minutes)

Introduce Column 2. Invite participants to write 1 or 2 cards naming specific skills, technical competencies, or working habits they personally contribute to this team. Keep cards concealed.

### 3. Map Internal and External Impediments (15 minutes)

Introduce Columns 3 and 4. Ask participants to write up to 2 cards for hurdles faced during the project. Place cards under Impediments Inside if the cause fell under the team's direct authority. Place them under Impediments Outside if caused by outside dependencies, client delays, or organizational policies. Keep cards concealed.

### 4. Acknowledge Internal and External Advantages (10 minutes)

Introduce Columns 5 and 6. Ask participants to write up to 2 cards giving credit to teammates or internal routines (Advantages Inside) and outside partners, tools, or circumstances (Advantages Outside) that supported delivery. Keep cards concealed.

### 5. Connect the Dots and Extract Review Topics (45 minutes)

Reveal cards. Form pairs or trios. Distribute columns 1 to 6 across groups: with 2 to 6 groups, assign 1 to 3 columns each. If more than 6 groups exist, assign 2 pairs per column, dividing the cards equally by top and bottom halves. Groups spend 15 minutes clustering duplicates and naming themes. For the remaining 30 minutes, each group presents clusters in 2 minutes. The facilitator records overarching themes into Column 7. Do not debate solutions yet.

### 6. Assign Next Steps and Ownership (30 minutes)

Review the items captured in Column 7. Select the top 3 to 5 priority topics by quick consensus or raised hands. For each selected topic, ask the group to formulate a concrete action statement in Column 8 ('Next Steps and Actions'). Secure a single volunteer owner and agreed target date for each item. Team members may decline ownership without penalty.


## Debrief questions

- Comparing internal versus external impediments, where do we need stronger boundaries or clearer escalations?
- Which external advantages can we systematically reuse in our next initiative?
- What team role shifts or assignments should we test based on the personal growth items listed?

**Finished output:** An eight-column review board documenting personal capabilities, system friction points, and key themes, terminating in Column 8 with concrete action commitments and named owners.

## Remote

Use a digital whiteboard with private note submission. In step 5, break the room into video breakout pairs (or one trio if odd) and assign each group specific columns on the digital board to cluster duplicate cards. Reconnect in the main room where each group presents their clustered titles while the facilitator writes cross-cutting themes into Column 7.

## Hybrid

In-person and remote participants both write directly into the shared online whiteboard using personal devices. Pair an in-person attendee with a remote attendee via a separate laptop or pair in-person attendees together and remote attendees together in breakout rooms. Read all clustered topic titles through the room audio so everyone follows the synthesis.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may submit notes anonymously or choose to keep personal growth cards private without sharing them to the public board.
- Volunteering for action item ownership in the final step is strictly opt-in; participants can decline without explanation.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants start arguing over solutions while cards are being grouped in step 5.**

Cut off problem-solving talk immediately. Remind the group that step 5 exists solely to cluster observations into Column 7 themes, and that solutions are reserved for step 6.

**Participants disagree on whether an impediment is inside or outside the team.**

Explain that 'Inside' means the team possessed the unilateral authority to fix or change it during the project, while 'Outside' required external permission, budget, or third-party action. For example, uncoordinated internal code merges are Inside; an unexpected vendor service outage is Outside.


## Terms used here

- Anchor Bias: The tendency for people to adjust their thoughts to match the first written ideas they see rather than submitting independent thoughts.

## Participant material: Review Column Guide

Column 1: Personal Growth and Upgrades (Skills you developed or want to learn next)
Column 2: Existing Advantages (Strengths and competencies you bring to this group)
Column 3: Impediments Inside (Blockers originating within the team's direct control)
Column 4: Impediments Outside (Blockers originating from outside systems, vendors, or policies)
Column 5: Advantages Inside (Team practices, peers, or habits deserving acknowledgement)
Column 6: Advantages Outside (External collaborators, tools, or context that aided the team)
Column 7: Review Topics (High-level themes synthesized across the boards)
Column 8: Next Steps and Actions (Concrete commitments with an assigned owner and date)

## Sources and adaptation

Observed on EasyRetro as a retrospective template attributed to JohnV.

Retained the eight-column structure, card-hiding mechanic, and cumulative stage allocations from JohnV's EasyRetro template. Added pair and trio clustering rules during step 5 to handle any group size from 4 to 24, explicit column distribution rules across varying group counts, participant material usage instructions in setup, and detailed hybrid instructions.

[EasyRetro](https://easyretro.io/templates/holistic-advantages-and-impediments-team-review/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/holistic-advantages-and-impediments-team-review/