What is the Four Ls Retrospective?
The 4Ls retrospective asks your team four questions about the last sprint: what you Liked, what you Learned, what you Lacked and what you Longed for. Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener developed the format, and it's a common pick for Scrum Masters because it's easy to explain and covers facts and feelings in one session. Liked and Learned bring out the good news: the practices worth keeping and the lessons the team picked up along the way. Lacked and Longed for point at what was missing and what people wish they'd had, which is usually where your next actions come from. Giving Learned its own column means lessons get written down instead of getting lost among the wins. And because Longed for is framed as a wish, people can raise a gap without it sounding like a complaint.
Four Ls Retrospective Format
Liked
What did we like about the last sprint?
Focus on positive experiences and successful outcomes. Encourage participants to share specific examples of what worked well, from processes to interactions. This helps identify practices worth continuing and builds team morale.
Learned
What did we learn from the last sprint?
Capture new insights, discoveries and lessons. These could be technical skills, process improvements or things people learned about working together. Remind the team that successes and failures are both worth learning from.
Lacked
What do we think was missing from the last sprint?
Address gaps and missing elements without assigning blame. Guide the discussion toward constructive identification of areas that need attention, whether they're resources, processes, or capabilities.
Longed for
What could we have done better in the last sprint?
Focus on the improvements the team wishes for and concrete ways to get there. Ask participants for realistic changes that would help the team work better and feel more satisfied in future sprints.
When to use this retrospective
- When you want a balanced look at what went well and what needs work
- In regular sprint retrospectives, when you want feedback on both the work and the way the team worked
- When new team members are joining their first retrospectives, since the four categories are easy to follow
- When the team needs some structure to sort its thoughts before discussing them
Suggested icebreaker questions
- If you could instantly master one new skill that would help the team, what would it be and why?
- What's one thing you learned recently that surprised you?
Want a warm-up your team plays, not just answers out loud? Browse free icebreakers →
Ideas and tips for your retrospective meeting
- Start with Liked to warm the room up before moving on to what was missing
- Timebox each L so one category doesn't take over the session
- Ask for specific examples, since a named problem is easier to act on than a general complaint
- Look for patterns across the four columns, such as a Lacked item that explains something people Longed for
- Write actions that close the gaps in Lacked and Longed for, and keep doing what people Liked
- Use dot voting to decide which items to tackle first
Frequently asked questions
What are the 4 Ls in a retrospective?
How do you run a 4Ls retrospective?
When should a team run a 4Ls retrospective?
Who created the 4Ls retrospective?
What's the difference between Lacked and Longed for?
Related templates
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Agile Retrospective
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Drop Add Keep Improve Retrospective
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