Your Stories

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Preserve team history and surface lessons learned from past team events.

Use it when: Use during a team retrospective, milestone celebration, work anniversary, or project kick-off with both new and long-standing members.

Skip it when: Skip if the team has severe unresolved interpersonal conflict where past incidents might trigger direct blaming or defensive arguments.

Group arrangement: One featured storyteller speaking to the whole room, followed by whole-room discussion.

Timing: UWT suggested schedule based on 5 to 15 minute range in reference records.

Materials and tools

• Timer or stopwatch
• Optional index cards or scratch paper for listeners to take notes

Before participants arrive

1. Ask one team member in advance if they are willing to serve as the featured storyteller, or invite a volunteer at the start. Ensure they know the time boundaries.

Say this to open

Today we will hear a short series of true snapshots from one person's time with our team. For each time block, like each year or project phase, our storyteller will share a brief incident. Listen for what happened, how our team handled it, and what we might carry into our future work.

How to run it

1. Introduce the format 2 minutes

   Explain the rules to the group. State the total time available for stories and the number of periods covered (for example, 3 to 5 distinct periods, capped at 1 minute per period). Confirm that the speaker is comfortable sharing and that listeners are paying attention to team context rather than critiquing performance.

2. Share chronological stories 5 minutes

   The featured storyteller shares one concise anecdote from each designated period of their time with the group. For example, a member who has been here for three years tells one story from year one, one from year two, and one from year three. The facilitator tracks time gently and gives a quiet signal at the end of each period.

3. Clarifying additions and alternate angles 3 minutes

   Invite other members who were present during those specific events to share brief additions or alternative perspectives from the same incident. Limit contributions to two or three volunteers, each taking under one minute. If no one else was present, invite newer members to ask one clarifying question about what happened.

4. Reflect and debrief 5 minutes

   Lead a brief debrief connecting the narrative to present work. Focus on takeaways, lessons, and institutional memory.

Debrief questions

• What did this reveal about how our team handles challenges or changes?
• For those who lived through these events, how did your own memory or perspective compare?
• How might the hindsight from these stories inform our upcoming work?

Finished output: A shared understanding of team history and documented takeaway notes from past events.

Remote

Run on any video platform. The storyteller speaks while unmuted on camera. Listeners post non-disruptive reactions or short notes in the text chat. During the debrief, the facilitator calls on participants using the digital hand-raise tool.

Hybrid

Ensure the in-person room has a clear microphone and camera pointed at the speaker. Remote participants take speaking turns through the room audio system. Track alternate turns between remote and room participants during the debrief.

Access and participation choices

• Speaking is strictly opt-in; no person is forced to serve as the featured storyteller.
• Participants may choose purely professional, light, or project-focused anecdotes without revealing personal private details.

If the session gets stuck

The storyteller provides long, rambling context and exceeds the allotted time.

Provide a gentle time check at the 1-minute mark for each period. Give them a prompt card with bullet points: situation, what happened, team result.

An anecdote brings up past organizational resentment or unresolved blame.

Intervene immediately to pivot the focus. Ask: 'What did we learn from that transition that helps us avoid that snag today?'

Terms used here

• Institutional memory: The informal knowledge, historical events, and collective experiences retained by long-standing members of an organization.