The Basketball Team Retrospective

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Map individual deliverables, mutual support exchanges, and informal team roles during a completed work cycle to identify collaboration gaps.

Use it when: At the end of a sprint, project phase, or milestone when a team needs to examine collaboration patterns and mutual reliance alongside deliverables.

Skip it when: When reviewing an urgent technical failure requiring root-cause analysis, or when evaluating individual performance.

Group arrangement: Individual reflection, optional pairs, and whole-group review

Timing: UWT suggested 35-minute duration to allow up to 16 participants time to write, post, share key notes, and set a concrete goal.

Materials and tools

• Sticky notes (1 pad per person, or 4 distinct colors)
• Fine-tip markers (1 per person)
• Wall space or whiteboard with 4 labeled columns: Shoot, Assist, Pass, Position
• Countdown timer
• Shared digital board tool for remote or hybrid delivery

Before participants arrive

1. Draw four vertical columns on the whiteboard labeled Shoot, Assist, Pass, Position.
2. Provide sticky notes and markers at each seat, or verify edit access to the digital board template.

Say this to open

Welcome. We will review our recent work cycle using a basketball metaphor. We have four categories: Shoot for completed tasks, Assist for how you helped others, Pass for support you received, and Position for the roles you play on this team. You will write your reflections quietly first, then post them and share highlights so we can set an action goal.

How to run it

1. Introduce categories 4 minutes

   Explain the four categories: Shoot (tasks completed), Assist (help given to others), Pass (help received from others), and Position (formal or informal roles filled). Read the opening script and verify that everyone understands the distinctions.

2. Individual reflection 7 minutes

   Participants write sticky notes silently, aiming for at least one note in each category. Neutral example for Position: 'Keeper of meeting notes' or 'Morale booster when morale dips'. Allow participants to pass on writing personal roles if they prefer.

3. Post and share highlights 16 minutes

   Invite everyone to place notes into the four columns. Move around the room so each person takes up to 45 seconds to voice one highlight from Assist or Pass, plus one role from Position. If a participant prefers not to speak, they may simply point to their posted note or say pass.

4. Debrief and set goal 8 minutes

   Facilitate a group discussion using the debrief questions, hearing from 3 to 4 contributors. Conclude by agreeing on one concrete team goal for the next work cycle based on the findings.

Debrief questions

• Looking across Assist and Pass, where was our mutual support strongest, and where did handoffs slow down?
• What functional team roles do we need to add, clarify, or share more evenly for our next sprint?
• How will our identified goal change how we pass tasks to one another next week?

Finished output: A shared board displaying team deliverables, support exchanges, and informal roles, ending with at least one documented team goal for the next cycle.

Remote

Use an online whiteboard with four columns: Shoot, Assist, Pass, Position. Participants post digital sticky notes during silent writing. The facilitator calls on each participant in turn order to unmute for 45 seconds or type their highlight in chat.

Hybrid

All participants use the shared digital board from individual laptops. The facilitator calls alternating between in-person and remote participants so everyone has equal time to voice their highlights.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may focus strictly on task completion if informal role naming feels uncomfortable.
• Participants may write anonymously or decline to read their notes aloud.
• Passing during sharing rounds is permitted with no explanation required.

If the session gets stuck

Participants list standard job titles instead of functional roles in the Position column.

Prompt the room to consider informal functions, such as unblocker, pace keeper, or document organizer.

Assist and Pass columns remain sparse because people focus only on independent tasks.

Ask participants to recall one instance where a colleague reviewed a document, clarified an issue, or unblocked progress.

Terms used here

• Retrospective: A structured review where a team examines a completed period of work to improve upcoming iterations.
• Sprint: A fixed time box of work, typically lasting one to four weeks.