4Ls Retrospective Template
Also known as: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For · 4 L's · Four Ls
Four words that cover the whole sprint: what worked, what you learned, what was missing and what you wish for.
- ⏱ 45–60 min
- 👥 3–12 people
- 🧩 4 columns
- Free · no sign-up
Liked
What did you enjoy?
Anything you enjoyed or appreciated: people, tools, decisions, moments.
Learned
What did you learn?
New knowledge or insights, technical or about how the team works.
Lacked
What was missing?
What was missing or insufficient: information, time, skills, tools, clarity.
Longed for
What do you wish we had?
What you wish had existed. Hopes and desires for the future.
What is the 4Ls Retrospective?
The 4Ls retrospective asks four questions: what did you Like, what did you Learn, what did you Lack and what did you Long for? It is one of the most balanced formats you can run, because it gives equal room to positives, lessons, gaps and aspirations.
The format was created by Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener, authors of Discover to Deliver, as a simple way to collect structured feedback at the end of a sprint, a project or even a workshop. The alliteration makes it easy to remember and to explain in ten seconds.
What sets 4Ls apart is the Learned column. Most formats are about what to change; 4Ls also captures what the team now knows, which makes it a great choice at the end of a spike, a discovery phase, an onboarding period or a project with a lot of new technology.
When to use 4Ls (and when not to)
✅ Use it when
- ▸ At the end of a project, a release or a quarter, when there is a lot to reflect on.
- ▸ After a sprint with new technology, a spike or user research, so lessons don't get lost.
- ▸ When you want a constructive tone without explicitly talking about emotions.
- ▸ With new teams: the questions are neutral and easy for everyone to answer.
- ▸ As a lightweight feedback form after a workshop or training session.
⚠️ Avoid it when
- ▸ When you only have 20 minutes. Four columns take longer to read and group than three; pick Start Stop Continue instead.
- ▸ After a sprint dominated by one serious problem. 4Ls spreads attention across four areas; a focused format like Mad Sad Glad gets to the root faster.
- ▸ When the team needs a decision about what to drop. 4Ls has no 'stop' column, so pair it with a short Start Stop Continue if needed.
How to run a 4Ls Retrospective step by step
Total time: about 51 minutes for a team of 3–12 people. Adjust the timeboxes to the size of your team and sprint.
- 1
Set the stage · 4 min
Explain the four Ls with one example each. Agree on the time period you're reviewing: the sprint, the project, or the quarter.
- 2
Silent writing · 10 min
Everyone writes in all four columns. Encourage at least one card in Learned; it's the column people skip and the one with the most long-term value.
- 3
Walk the board · 12 min
Go column by column in order: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for. The order creates a natural arc from appreciation to aspiration. Group duplicates as you go.
- 4
Connect Lacked and Longed for · 5 min
These two columns often describe the same gap from two angles ('Lacked: test data' / 'Longed for: a seeded staging environment'). Link them; they make the strongest action items.
- 5
Vote and discuss · 15 min
Three votes each, focused on Lacked and Longed for. Discuss the top two or three themes and ask what the smallest useful step would be.
- 6
Actions and knowledge sharing · 5 min
Agree on action items with owners. Decide where the Learned cards should live (wiki, README, onboarding doc) so the lessons outlast the board.
4Ls questions and prompts for each column
Read a couple of these aloud if the board stays empty after the first minutes of writing.
Liked
- • What part of the work did you enjoy most?
- • Which decision turned out well?
- • Whose help do you want to acknowledge?
Learned
- • What do you know now that you didn't two weeks ago?
- • What surprised you about the users, the code or the process?
- • Which assumption turned out to be wrong?
Lacked
- • What did you have to wait for?
- • What information would have changed your decisions?
- • Which skill or resource did we not have?
Longed for
- • If you had a magic wand for next sprint, what would you change?
- • What would make your work twice as enjoyable?
- • What would you love the team to try?
4Ls retrospective example
A team that just finished a six-week project migrating payments to a new provider. Here is what their board looked like at the end of the writing phase.
Liked
- Daily syncs with the provider's engineers
- Feature flags let us roll out by country
- Pairing on the webhook handling
Learned
- Their sandbox doesn't mirror prod retries
- Idempotency keys must be stored before calling the API
- Finance needs reports in a specific format
Lacked
- Clear owner for the reconciliation job
- Realistic test data for refunds
- Time to write docs as we went
Longed for
- A shared runbook for payment incidents
- Contract tests against the provider
- A demo for the whole company
Action items they agreed on
- ☑️ Write the payment incident runbook while it's fresh (owner: Marta, two weeks)
- ☑️ Add contract tests to the CI pipeline (owner: Dev, next sprint)
- ☑️ Move the 'Learned' cards into the payments README (owner: everyone, Friday)
Common mistakes and facilitation tips
Confusing Lacked and Longed for
Lacked looks backward (what was missing this time), Longed for looks forward (what you'd love to have). If people are unsure, tell them not to worry: put it anywhere and link the two during discussion.
The Learned column stays empty
People often think 'learned' means something big. Give examples: a shortcut in the IDE, a customer insight, a way the team works better. Small lessons count.
Lessons are discussed and then forgotten
Decide at the end where learnings will be stored and who moves them there. Otherwise the most valuable column vanishes with the board.
Running out of time
Four columns produce more cards. Timebox each column's read-out and move straight to voting if the board is large.
Variations and related templates
- 3Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked): Drops Longed for for a shorter session.
- 5Ls: Adds 'Loathed' for a candid column of things people really disliked.
- Starfish retrospective template: Another five-column format focused on adjusting practices rather than lessons.
- Rose, Bud, Thorn retrospective template: A three-column alternative that also captures what is starting to grow.
4Ls retrospective FAQ
What does 4Ls stand for in a retrospective?
Liked, Learned, Lacked and Longed for. Team members write what they liked, what they learned, what was missing and what they wish they had.
Who created the 4Ls retrospective?
It was created by Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener, agile coaches and authors of Discover to Deliver.
What is the difference between Lacked and Longed for?
Lacked is backward-looking: what was missing during the period you're reviewing. Longed for is forward-looking: what you would like to have in the future.
When should I use 4Ls instead of Start Stop Continue?
Use 4Ls when you want to capture lessons, typically at the end of a project or after a sprint with lots of new work. Use Start Stop Continue when you need quick, concrete behaviour changes.
How long does a 4Ls retrospective take?
Plan 45 to 60 minutes. It has four columns, so reading and grouping takes a bit longer than a three-column format.
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Related retrospective templates
Start Stop Continue retrospective template
The classic three-column retro: what to start doing, stop doing and keep doing. Fast, clear, action-oriented.
Starfish retrospective template
Five-column format: Keep, Start, Stop, More Of, Less Of. The most precise retro format for scrum teams that want nuanced action items.
Sailboat retrospective template
Navigate your sprint with a nautical metaphor. Identify what's pushing you forward, what's slowing you down, risks ahead, and your shared destination.
Rose Bud Thorn retrospective template
Roses (what went well), buds (what's starting to grow) and thorns (what hurt). Gentle, quick and balanced.
Mad Sad Glad retrospective template
Emotion-first retro: what made the team mad, sad and glad. Ideal after a stressful sprint or to check team morale.