4 L’s Retrospective: Structure your team sprint reviews

Are you looking for a dynamic and innovative retrospective format to try out with your team? The 4 L’s Retrospective (also known as “4L Retro”) might be just the method you need! It’s an interesting variation on the classic retrospective because it enables you to transform your end-of-sprint reflections into concrete actions.

For Agile teams, the retrospective is an essential ritual that marks the end of a sprint. It provides an opportunity to review what worked and what didn’t, and to decide what to encourage or stop in future iterations. As any Scrum Master knows, it’s important to vary the retrospective formats from one sprint to another. This helps maintain momentum and increase the long-term impact of the actions taken.

The Klaxoon “4 L’s Retrospective” whiteboard template provides all the interactive tools you need to maximize the effectiveness of your follow-up actions in your next sprints. Through four simple visual steps — Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed for — you can focus on objective lessons learned and derive clear, concrete actions from them.

Now, let’s take a look at exactly how the 4L method works. See how you can use this ready-to-use template to save time when preparing for your next in-person or remote retrospective!

What is the 4 L’s Retrospective?

The 4 L’s retrospective is a team review format in which discussions are structured around four simple aspects. Each of them begins with the letter “L,” hence the name. Rather than launching into an open-ended discussion that can quickly veer off track, the team is invited to categorize their observations into four distinct areas. These areas are often presented as four columns or quadrants on a single whiteboard.

Here’s what each “L” stands for:

• Liked: What did the team like? (what worked well during the sprint and is worth keeping?)
• Learned: What did the team learn? (lessons, discoveries, and skills acquired throughout the iteration)
• Lacked: What did the team lack? (obstacles, resources, communication issues, tools, etc.)
• Longed for: What did the team long for? (what they wish they had to improve future sprints)

This structure’s value lies in its ability to naturally balance the team’s perspectives, fostering an objective reflection less influenced by personal feelings. The first two columns highlight successes and progress, and the last two encourage improvements. This helps you avoid a retrospective that merely lists problems while maintaining a clear focus on action.

It is best to hold the 4L Retrospective at the end of a sprint, project, or major milestone while memories of the events are still fresh. This is when feedback is most accurate and ideas for improvement are easiest to articulate.

Like many Agile retrospective formats, the 4L method draws its strength from its simplicity. Just four questions are enough to structure a 30- to 45-minute session in an engaging and interactive way. This accessibility makes it ideal for teams that don’t practice Scrum daily.

Who is the 4L Retrospective for?

The 4L Retrospective was originally designed for Scrum Masters and Agile teams. It is best used as an end-of-sprint ritual that can be varied to maintain the team’s attention and momentum. If you’ve been facilitating sprints for several months and are looking for a new approach to effective meetings, the 4 L’s Retrospective offers a fresh perspective without requiring you to start from scratch.

However, beyond just Scrum teams, this method’s four-question structure remains perfectly understandable even for participants who aren’t familiar with Agile practices. There’s no need to explain terms like “backlog” or “velocity” here: all you need to do is share what you appreciated and learned, what was missing, and what you wish you could have during a project, regardless of its nature. This simplicity makes the method accessible to a wide range of roles.

Project management, Product teams, Marketing, HR, or Support: any team wrapping up a work cycle can benefit from it. Here are a few contexts where the 4 L’s method works particularly well:

• A review of a project that has just wrapped up, to capitalize on the lessons learned and achievements before moving on to the next project or phase.
• The end of a marketing campaign or event, to analyze in real time what worked.
• Onboarding a new team to establish a culture of constructive feedback early on.
• A progress check after an incident or a busy period, when it’s necessary to understand what went wrong.

The 4L Retrospective works just as well for small teams as it does for larger groups, as long as everyone has enough time to contribute. For large teams, a shared visual aid, such as a whiteboard, is essential so that no one is left behind.

Finally, this format is well-suited for both in-person and remote settings. With an online tool like Klaxoon’s Board, remote participants can contribute just as much as those gathered in the same room, speaking up and being heard at any time.

The benefits of the 4 L’s Retrospective

The 4L Retrospective is a great format for any team because it addresses many common challenges in a single session.

Its first benefit lies in its balance. The “Liked” and “Learned” columns highlight successes and progress, while the “Lacked” and “Longed For” columns emphasize the areas for improvement. As a result, the team doesn’t feel like they’ve merely spent an hour listing their problems. They first acknowledge what went well before considering how to improve. This structure often boosts the session’s momentum and energy.

Next comes the learning aspect, which many formats overlook. By dedicating an entire column to what the team has learned, the 4L method reveals insights that individuals would otherwise keep to themselves. From the developer who found a better testing process to the campaign manager who identified a more effective channel, this is a participatory format for sharing and recording insights and discoveries.

Furthermore, the 4 L’s Retrospective is all about taking action. The “Lacked” and “Longed for” columns don’t just describe frustrations; they directly facilitate decision-making for the next steps. A comment like “We lacked approved mockups before coding” can effortlessly be transformed into a concrete action for the next sprint, with a clearly defined person in charge and a deadline.

Additionally, this retrospective format is simple to explain. Four questions are all it takes, and the team understands the framework within seconds. This means you spend less time setting the context and more time reflecting and deciding together.

Finally, the 4 L’s Retrospective gives everyone a chance to speak up at their own pace. First, you allow time for brainstorming so that each participant can write their ideas on the whiteboard. Then, you pool them together. This prevents the most extroverted team members from monopolizing the conversation. More reserved team members can then contribute just as much as everyone else, and you gain a more accurate picture of the entire team’s experience during the sprint.

How the 4 L’s Retrospective differs from other retrospective formats

There are many retrospective formats, and each of them approaches the sprint from a different angle. Understanding what sets the 4 L’s Retrospective apart will help you choose the right tool at the right time.

Let’s take one of the most common retro formats, the “Start, Stop, Continue”. It’s straightforward and action-oriented, but it leaves little room for what the team has learned or what they’d like to see happen next. The 4L method addresses these issues with its “Learned” and “Longed For” columns, which add dimensions of learning and aspiration.

The “Mad, Sad, Glad” format follows a different logic. It invites participants to express their emotions about the sprint. This is invaluable for gauging a team’s mood under pressure or after a difficult period. The 4 L’s Retrospective, on the other hand, relies more on facts and objective lessons. If you’re looking to emphasize the analytical aspect rather than the emotional one, the 4L format is often more suitable.

Another format is the Speedboat retrospective, also known as Sailboat. It uses the metaphor of a boat propelled by the wind (strengths), but also slowed down by its anchor (drags) and rocks (obstacles), as it heads toward an island (objectives). This setting stimulates creativity but requires explanation and isn’t suitable for all groups. The 4L Retrospective gets straight to the point with four clear, non-figurative questions that lead directly to an action plan.

Examples of effective uses of the 4 L’s Retrospective

Nothing beats real-world scenarios for understanding how a 4L retrospective plays out in practice. Below are two common ones:

Development team

Let’s first consider a development team at the end of a sprint:

• In the “Liked” column, a participant notes: “Implementing MFA for authentication saved us time.”
• In “Learned,” another person notes: “We figured out how to reduce the time spent on automated testing.”
• The “Lacked” column reveals: “The mockups weren’t validated before we started coding.”
• In the “Longed for” section, a team member notes: “We would have liked more time for the code review.”

Based on this feedback, a quick review of the mockups becomes an action item for the next sprint: the Product Owner commits to delivering validated mockups before launch.

Marketing team

Here’s one more case: a marketing team after launching a campaign. Here, the 4L method works just as well, even outside of the Scrum framework:

• In the “Liked” column, we find feedback such as: “The video generated a lot of engagement.”
• In the “Learned” section, we note that “morning posts perform better.”
• In the “Lacked” section, a participant notes: “We lacked mobile-friendly visuals.”
• Regarding the “Longed for” section, a participant writes: “We would have liked to test an influencer partnership.”

Here, an action for the next campaign could be to address the lack of mobile-friendly visuals by including the graphic designer in future discussions.

Regardless of the context of your 4 L’s Retrospective, as a facilitator, you can also use different prompts to enrich your discussions at each stage:

• Liked: What would you consider the key success to take away from this sprint?
• Learned: What insight would you like to share with another team?
• Lacked: What set you back that you couldn’t avoid?
• Longed for: If you had a magic wand for the next sprint, what would you change?

How to use the Klaxoon 4 L’s Retrospective template to facilitate your next retro

The Klaxoon 4 L’S Retrospective Board template saves you time when preparing your team rituals. The four quadrants are already set up, and the team can contribute simultaneously, whether participants are in the same room or joining remotely. Allow 30 to 45 minutes for a full session.

The goal remains the same throughout the retrospective: to turn the sprint’s lessons into concrete, clear actions led by designated owners.

The four-step process

1. Set the stage (5–10 min): Invite your participants to the Board by sharing the link. Make sure everyone is connected, then introduce the retrospective’s topic, scope, and duration. Next, establish the framework as a constructive, solution-oriented process that never singles out individuals while encouraging participation.
2. Start the brainstorming phase (10 min): Each participant posts their ideas in the four categories using the color-coding system, without discussing them aloud. You can set a timer on your whiteboard to better manage time during this step. If the sprint was particularly stressful, switch contributions to Anonymous mode to encourage open discussion.
3. Discuss and analyze (15–20 min): Review the contributions together. You can deepen your analysis using the 5 Whys method to identify the root cause of the issues raised and respond most appropriately.
4. Assign actions (5–10 min): Convert the ideas from the “Lacked” and “Longed for” columns into concrete actions in the “Action Plan” section below. Assign a person responsible for each action before closing the session. Here, dot-voting can help you quickly identify the most popular ideas and prioritize them before taking action.

Note: By keeping all your retrospectives on a single Board from one sprint to the next, you maintain a record of the decisions made and can easily measure progress between iterations.

To vary the format of your next retrospective without creating a new Board, simply choose another Klaxoon retrospective template in the library, then duplicate its content into your centralized Board. You can also use the Board Assistant feature to create custom templates tailored to your needs and team size.

Conclusion

The 4 L’s Retrospective provides a balanced framework that acknowledges the team’s successes while openly inviting improvements. Structured into four simple steps, it’s all you need to organize a quick, effective session accessible to both Agile teams and project teams looking to learn from their iterations.

Its real strength lies in what it produces: shared insights and clear actions assigned to specific individuals. This is where the format truly shines: you’ll never end a session without concrete decisions!

This Klaxoon 4 L’s Retrospective Board template saves you time on preparation and keeps the entire team on the same page, whether in person or remotely.

Try it now and invite your team to your next 4 L’s Retrospective!