The Pacman Retrospective

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Gather feedback on recent successes, present obstacles, and future opportunities to create specific action items.

Use it when: Use at the end of a sprint, milestone, or project phase when a team needs a quick, forward-looking review.

Skip it when: Skip during a critical incident postmortem or conflict resolution where deep root-cause analysis is required.

Group arrangement: Individual reflection, then table subgroups of 3 to 5, concluding in a whole-room action review.

Timing: UWT suggested standard 35-minute duration for a full team retrospective loop.

Materials and tools

• Sticky notes (roughly 10 notes per person)
• Fine-tip markers (one per participant)
• Wall space, whiteboard, or poster board divided into four columns: Joys, Challenges, Next Exciting Thing, and Actions
• Timer

Before participants arrive

1. Draw four columns on the board labeled: 'What do we enjoy as a team?', 'What problems/challenges are we facing?', 'What’s the next exciting thing for us?', and 'Actions'.
2. Place sticky notes and markers at each seat or table.

Say this to open

Welcome to our retrospective. Today we are looking back and looking forward using three prompts: what we enjoy doing together, what challenges we face right now, and what exciting work is ahead. After collecting our thoughts, we will turn them into clear actions.

How to run it

1. Silent writing 7 minutes

   Explain the three main prompts on the board. Direct participants to write individually on sticky notes: one idea per note. Example: under challenges, write 'Build pipeline takes 45 minutes to run' rather than 'Tech debt'. Participants write as many or as few as they want and may choose not to post private items.

2. Post and cluster 8 minutes

   Invite participants to post their notes in the first three columns. Have everyone gather near the board to group similar notes into clusters. Read out loud any duplicates and clarify handwriting if needed.

3. Subgroup discussion 10 minutes

   Divide the room into subgroups of 3 to 5 people. Assign each group one or two prominent clusters, prioritizing the challenges column and looking for connections to upcoming work. Each group drafts 1 to 2 proposed action items with clear owners and write them on sticky notes.

4. Select actions and debrief 10 minutes

   Call the room back together. Give each subgroup 60 seconds to present their proposed action items. Give every participant two votes to place on the proposed actions. Move the top 1 to 3 vote-getting items into the Actions column. Confirm a clear volunteer owner for each selected action before closing.

Debrief questions

• Looking across these notes, what helped us do good work this cycle that we want to protect?
• Which challenge, if solved, would make the next exciting project significantly easier?
• Are our chosen actions small enough to finish in the next cycle?

Finished output: A board with clustered feedback across three categories and a final list of 1 to 3 agreed improvement actions with designated owners.

Remote

Set up a shared digital whiteboard with the four columns. Participants add digital sticky notes silently for 7 minutes. Move notes into clusters together on screen. Use breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people for drafting actions, then return to the main room to post actions into the final column.

Hybrid

Maintain the single source of truth on a digital board displayed on the room screen. In-person members use laptops or assign an in-room scribe to mirror physical sticky notes onto the digital board. For subgroup work, form mixed breakout rooms where in-person members join using individual headsets, or pair remote members into their own video breakout to discuss and add items directly to the digital board.

Access and participation choices

• Allow participants to submit sticky notes anonymously or pass on speaking aloud during whole-room sharing.
• Offer typed or spoken contributions for those who prefer not to handwrite sticky notes.

If the session gets stuck

Participants write vague complaints like 'communication' without actionable detail.

Ask the author or the subgroup: 'What is a concrete example of this from the past two weeks?' and reframe it into an observable issue.

The team drafts too many ambitious action items that will not get done.

Enforce a hard limit of 3 action items total. Ask the group to pick the top priority and set the others aside for the next review.

Terms used here

• Retrospective: A structured team meeting to review a past period of work, identify what went well or poorly, and agree on improvements.