The four columns
Liked: what did we enjoy?
Anything the team appreciated: ways of working, tools, collaboration, results.
Prompts: What did you enjoy about this sprint? What worked better than expected?
Learned: what did we learn?
New skills, insights about users, technical discoveries, things learned the hard way.
Prompts: What do you know now that you didn't before? What would you tell another team starting the same work?
Lacked: what was missing?
Resources, information, skills or support the team needed and didn't have.
Prompts: What slowed you down because it wasn't there? What did you have to work around?
Longed for: what do we wish we had?
Wishes and hopes for the future, from tools to time to focus.
Prompts: If you could change one thing about how we work, what would it be? What would make the next project easier?
Retrocycle's template adds an Action items column at the end, so the conversation ends with actions that have an owner.
When to use it
- At the end of a project or a release.
- After adopting a new tool, language or practice.
- For a quarterly or half-year retrospective.
- When the team has been delivering well but you want to talk about growth.
When something else may work better: right after an incident or a stressful sprint, Mad, Sad, Glad makes more room for how people felt.
A 50-minute agenda
- 1
Set the scene (5 min). Say which period you're looking back on: a sprint, a project, a quarter.
- 2
Write cards silently (10 min). Four columns take longer than three. Give people time to fill each one.
- 3
Reveal and group (8 min). Group similar cards. Learned cards often deserve to be shared even without a vote.
- 4
Vote (3 min). Vote on the Lacked and Longed for cards the team most wants to act on.
- 5
Discuss (18 min). Start with the top Lacked card, then the top Longed for card. End with a quick round of Learned to capture knowledge.
- 6
Agree on action items (6 min). Two or three actions with owners. Learned cards can become documentation or a short talk.
Example cards
From a fictional project that moved a service to a new framework:
| Liked | Learned | Lacked | Longed for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pairing during the migration | How to profile memory leaks in the new runtime | A staging environment that matched production | A week with no meetings to finish the cut-over |
| The new deploy pipeline | Users rely on the CSV export more than we thought | Clear ownership of the old service | Automated load tests before each release |
And the actions that came out of it:
- Write a one-page guide on profiling memory in the new runtime (owner: the engineer who learned it).
- Ask for a staging environment that mirrors production in next quarter's budget (owner: engineering manager).
Tips for a better 4Ls
- Keep Liked and Learned separate: something can be learned without being liked.
- Treat Learned as an output in its own right. Share it outside the team.
- Lacked is about the past, Longed for is about the future. If they overlap, that's your strongest signal.
- Use a longer slot than a normal sprint retro.
Run it in Retrocycle
Pick the 4Ls template, share the link, and your team joins as guests with just a name: no accounts needed. Turn on blur so cards stay hidden while people write, let people post anonymously if they want, vote, and close the retro with action items that carry over to the next one. How action items work
FAQ
What's the difference between Lacked and Longed for?
Lacked is what was missing during the period you're reviewing. Longed for is what you'd like to have from now on.
Is 4Ls good for sprint retros?
It works, but it shines over longer periods. For a normal sprint, many teams prefer three columns.
How long does a 4Ls retro take?
Plan around 50 minutes. Four columns produce more cards to read and group.
Can I rename the columns?
Yes. In Retrocycle you can change the columns of any template before you start the retro.