WRAP Retrospective

Share wishes, risks, appreciations and puzzles with your team.

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Wishes

Wishes for a perfect world going forward.

I wish we could have more regular knowledge sharing sessions
It would be great if we could automate our deployment process
I'd love to have more cross-team collaboration opportunities
Risks

Things that could bring chaos.

We might miss deadlines if we don't improve our estimation process
Technical debt could slow down future development
Team burnout is possible with our current workload
Appreciations

People, teams or things you want to recognize.

Thank you Sarah for helping me debug that tricky issue
I really appreciate how the team supported each other during the release
The new documentation system has made onboarding so much easier
Puzzles

Questions that remain unanswered.

How can we better balance feature development with technical debt?
What's the best way to handle competing priorities?
Why do our estimations often miss the mark?

What is the WRAP Retrospective?

WRAP is a four-part retrospective named for its columns: Wishes, Risks, Appreciations and Puzzles. It's based on an idea by Nick Oostvogels, and it covers more ground than a two- or three-column retro without getting complicated. Wishes is where people describe what they'd change in a perfect world, from small fixes to long-term hopes. Risks is for the threats that could derail the team, such as burnout, knowledge silos or growing technical debt. Appreciations gives people a place to thank colleagues and teams for specific help, and Puzzles collects the open questions nobody has answered yet. Wishes and Risks point forward, while Appreciations and Puzzles cover where the team is now, which makes WRAP a good fit after a milestone or release. Finish by turning the biggest risks and puzzles into actions with an owner.

WRAP retrospective format

Wishes

Wishes for a perfect world going forward.

Ask the team to imagine improvements without worrying about constraints for now. Small practical wishes and ambitious long-term ones are both welcome. If a wish sounds like a complaint, help the person phrase it as what they'd like instead.

Risks

Things that could bring chaos.

Ask what could get in the way of the team's success. Focus on risks the team can do something about, and ask for a practical suggestion alongside each one.

Appreciations

People, teams or things you want to recognize.

Make room for genuine thanks. Ask for specific examples over general praise, and make sure everyone gets a chance to give and receive recognition.

Puzzles

Questions that remain unanswered.

Ask for the open questions and uncertainties affecting the team's work or the project. For each puzzle, agree on who will find the answer or how the team will get clarity.

When to use this retrospective

  • When you want recognition and problem-solving in the same session
  • After completing a significant project milestone or release
  • When the team needs to talk about opportunities and risks together
  • When you want the team to think about what could go wrong next, not only what already did

Suggested icebreaker questions

  • If you could have one wish granted for the team right now, what would it be?
  • What's something you've been puzzled about lately that turned out to have a simple solution?

Want a warm-up your team plays, not just answers out loud? Browse free icebreakers →

Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting

  • Start with Appreciations so the team opens on what went right before the harder topics
  • Keep a parking lot for items that need more discussion or don't fit any column
  • Use dot voting to choose which items to discuss in detail when time is short
  • Ask everyone to add something to every column so you hear from the whole team
  • Split larger teams into small groups for the first round of brainstorming
  • Finish with specific actions for the top risks and puzzles

Frequently asked questions

What is a WRAP retrospective?
It's a four-column retrospective based on an idea by Nick Oostvogels. Your team shares Wishes, flags Risks, gives Appreciations and raises Puzzles, then turns the most important items into actions.
What does WRAP stand for in a retrospective?
Wishes, Risks, Appreciations and Puzzles. The columns cover what you'd like to change, what could go wrong, who you want to thank and what's still unclear.
When should you run a WRAP retrospective?
Use it after a milestone or release, or whenever you want recognition and problem-solving in one session. It suits teams that want to look ahead at risks, not only back at the last sprint.
Is the WRAP retrospective template free to use?
Yes. You can run the WRAP template free in TeamRetro, with the four-column board, the prompts and the icebreaker questions.
How long does a WRAP retrospective take?
Plan for about an hour. Four columns take longer than a two-column retro, so use dot voting to focus the discussion on the few items that matter.

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