Speed Car Retrospective

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify work practices that accelerate delivery and specific friction points that slow the team down.

Use it when: Use at the close of an iteration, sprint, or project milestone when a team needs a fast, structured diagnostic focused on velocity and blockers.

Skip it when: Skip when the team needs deep root-cause analysis for a severe incident or must address unresolved interpersonal conflict rather than process mechanics.

Group arrangement: Individual silent writing, followed by whole-room clustering on a central board for up to 10 people or table-level subgroup clustering that merges onto a central board for 11 to 24 people.

Timing: UWT suggested standard 35-minute duration to ensure large groups up to 24 have adequate time for clustering, dot voting, and action planning.

Materials and tools

• 1 central whiteboard or wall space divided into Engine and Parachute columns
• Table-top flip chart sheets (1 per table of 4 to 6 people for large groups)
• Dry-erase markers
• Sticky notes (2 pads of 3x3 inch, contrasting colors preferred)
• Pens or fine-tip markers (1 per participant)
• Sheet of voting dot stickers (3 dots per participant)
• 1 countdown timer
• Digital whiteboard and laptop for assigned scribe (hybrid only)

Before participants arrive

1. Draw a vertical line down the center of the main wall or whiteboard.
2. Label the left column 'Engine (What propels us forward?)'.
3. Label the right column 'Parachute (What drags us down?)'.
4. For groups larger than 10, place a two-column flip chart sheet on each table of 4 to 6 people.
5. Distribute sticky notes, pens, and strips of 3 voting dots to each table.
6. For hybrid sessions, designate 1 in-room scribe per table of 4 to 6 in-person participants to mirror physical notes onto the digital board.

Say this to open

Welcome. We are using the Speed Car retrospective to review our recent sprint. We have two prompts: Engine covers what propels our work forward and helps us deliver quickly. Parachute covers what drags us down or slows our pace. You will write silently first, then we will group related topics, vote on the most important themes, and choose clear next steps.

How to run it

1. Introduce prompts and write silently 5 minutes

   Deliver the opening script. Give one neutral example: 'Engine: peer reviews finished within two hours; Parachute: ad hoc status meetings broke morning focus.' Direct participants to write silently on sticky notes, putting one idea per note. Anyone who prefers not to write may leave their notes blank, manage the room timer, or simply observe.

2. Cluster topics 8 minutes

   If in one group of 10 or fewer, participants post directly to the main board and cluster similar cards into themes. If 11 to 24 people, tables cluster their own notes on their table sheet first for 4 minutes. A representative from each table then carries their table clusters to the main board, combining duplicates with other tables. The facilitator names each resulting cluster aloud.

3. Prioritize clusters by voting 6 minutes

   Instruct all participants to walk to the main board and place their 3 voting dots on the clusters they consider most urgent to address or preserve. Participants may place multiple dots on a single cluster. The facilitator counts the dots across all clusters, circles the top two or three clusters receiving the highest count, and announces them to the room.

4. Formulate concrete adjustments 12 minutes

   Focus on the top two or three prioritized clusters one by one. For each cluster, ask: 'What specific operational adjustment will address this during our next cycle?' Keep the discussion focused on concrete changes within team control. Write each agreed action directly below the cluster, naming one designated owner and a target check-in date.

5. Review commitments and close 4 minutes

   Read the committed action items aloud, confirming that each assigned owner understands and agrees to their task. Ask the debrief questions to close the session, allowing 2 or 3 participants to respond.

Debrief questions

• Which engine practice must we protect from slipping when workload increases?
• Which parachute blocker can we remove completely during the upcoming cycle?
• What visible indicator will show us our new action item made a measurable difference?

Finished output: A clustered board of delivery drivers and friction points, resulting in 2 to 3 documented action commitments with named owners and dates.

Remote

Set up a shared digital canvas with Engine and Parachute columns. Participants type digital sticky notes silently with cards hidden or blurred for 5 minutes. The facilitator unhides the cards and invites everyone to drag related cards into labeled boxes. Run a 3-minute digital dot-voting round where each person receives 3 digital votes. Discuss the top 2 or 3 topics in the main video channel and type agreed action items into a visible shared log.

Hybrid

All participants, whether remote or in-person, contribute to a single digital board. In-person participants work at tables of 4 to 6 with an assigned in-room scribe who types their spoken or written notes directly into the shared digital space. Remote participants enter notes directly. Dot voting takes place synchronously on the digital canvas so all votes tally together. Verbal discussion alternates between one remote participant and one room participant.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may submit notes typed, handwritten, or dictated to a table peer or scribe.
• Any participant may pass on writing or speaking and choose to act as timekeeper or observer without giving a reason.

If the session gets stuck

Participants write broad complaints like 'poor teamwork' without actionable detail.

Ask the group for a concrete situation: 'What specific task or event during the sprint highlighted that friction?'

Conversation gets stuck debating company-wide policies that the team cannot alter.

Acknowledge the policy as external drag, set it aside as an unchangeable constraint, and ask: 'What internal workaround can this team implement to soften its impact?'

Terms used here

• Sprint Velocity: The volume of work or number of backlog items completed by a team during a fixed work cycle.
• Dot Voting: A prioritization method where people place adhesive dots or marks on options to select key priorities quickly.