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Retrospectives

Grouping Related Cards

Why Group Cards?

During a retrospective, multiple participants often raise the same concern or observation using different words. Grouping consolidates these related cards into a single theme, which reduces duplication and makes the vote and discuss phases more focused and efficient.

Without grouping, a team might end up voting on five separate cards that all describe the same issue, diluting the votes and making it harder to prioritize. With grouping, those five cards become a single group that receives a combined vote count and can be discussed as one coherent topic.

When Grouping Happens

Grouping occurs during the Group phase, which comes after Reflect and before Vote. The facilitator advances the retro into the group phase once participants have finished writing their cards.

Grouping is optional. If your team has a small number of cards or the feedback is already distinct, the facilitator can skip the group phase entirely and advance directly to voting.

Manual Grouping with Drag-and-Drop

The primary way to group cards is by dragging one card onto another. This creates a visual cluster that represents a shared theme.

Creating a group

  1. Identify two or more cards that share a common theme.
  2. Click and hold one card, then drag it onto another card in the same column.
  3. Release the card to create a group. Both cards will be visually nested together.
  4. A group header appears above the cards with a default name based on the first card's text.

Adding cards to an existing group

  1. Click and hold the card you want to add.
  2. Drag it onto the existing group.
  3. Release to add the card to the group. The card count on the group header updates automatically.

You can add cards from the same column to any group within that column. Cards cannot be grouped across different columns.

Look for common keywords, sentiments, or themes when deciding which cards to group. If two cards would lead to the same conversation during the discuss phase, they belong in the same group.

AI-Suggested Groupings

Unpack can analyze all cards on the board and suggest logical groupings using AI. This feature is particularly useful when the board has a large number of cards and manual grouping would be time-consuming.

How to use AI grouping

  1. In the group phase, click the Suggest Groups button in the facilitator toolbar.
  2. Unpack's AI analyzes the text of all cards and identifies thematic clusters.
  3. Suggested groups appear as a preview overlay on the board, showing which cards the AI proposes to group together.
  4. Review each suggestion. You can accept individual suggestions, modify them, or dismiss them.
  5. Click Apply to confirm the suggestions you want to keep.

AI suggestions are just that: suggestions. They are not applied automatically. The facilitator always has final control over how cards are grouped.

When AI grouping works best

  • Boards with 15 or more cards, where manual scanning is tedious.
  • Cards written in varied language that a human might not immediately connect but that share an underlying theme.
  • Teams that want to save time on mechanical grouping and spend more time on discussion.

Renaming Groups

Every group has a name displayed in its header. By default, this name is derived from the first card added to the group. You should rename groups to clearly describe the theme they represent.

How to rename a group

  1. Click on the group header text.
  2. Type a new name that summarizes the theme (e.g., "Deployment pipeline pain points").
  3. Press Enter or click away to save.

Good group names make the vote and discuss phases much smoother because participants can quickly understand what each topic is about without reading every individual card.

Keep group names concise but descriptive. A name like "CI/CD issues" is better than "Various problems people had with the build and deployment process" and also better than just "Problems."

Ungrouping Cards

If a card was grouped incorrectly, it can be removed from its group and returned to a standalone position in the column.

How to ungroup a card

  1. Click on the grouped card to select it.
  2. Click the Remove from group option that appears, or drag the card out of the group and drop it back into the column.
  3. The card returns to its original standalone position.

Dissolving an entire group

To dissolve a group entirely and return all its cards to standalone positions:

  1. Click the group header to select the group.
  2. Click the Ungroup all option in the group menu.
  3. All cards are returned to the column as individual items.

Ungrouping after voting has started can affect vote distribution. If you need to reorganize groups, consider retreating to the group phase first and communicating the change to the team.

Grouping Best Practices

  • Do not over-group. If two cards are only loosely related, it may be better to keep them separate so they can be voted on independently.
  • Aim for 5 to 10 groups per column. This gives the team enough topics to vote on without being overwhelming.
  • Involve the team. Grouping works best when the facilitator checks with the team before finalizing groups, especially for ambiguous cards.
  • Use AI suggestions as a starting point. Review and adjust the AI's proposals rather than accepting them blindly.
  • Always rename groups. Default names based on card text are rarely descriptive enough for effective voting and discussion.