4Ls Retrospective: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For Guide

The 4Ls retrospective is one of the most versatile and balanced retrospective formats available. By organizing feedback into Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For, it captures both emotional responses and practical needs—giving you a complete picture of your team’s sprint experience.

This guide shows you exactly how to run a 4Ls retrospective, with a ready-to-use template and facilitator tips for getting the best results.

What Is the 4Ls Retrospective?

The 4Ls retrospective organizes team feedback into four categories, each starting with the letter “L”:

Category	Question	Focus
Liked	What did we enjoy?	Positive experiences
Learned	What did we discover?	Knowledge gained
Lacked	What was missing?	Gaps and needs
Longed For	What did we wish we had?	Desires and wants

This framework balances emotional reflection (Liked) with practical assessment (Lacked), while also capturing growth (Learned) and future needs (Longed For).

Why the 4Ls Format Works

The 4Ls retrospective is effective because it:

Balances positive and constructive feedback - Liked and Learned ensure positives aren’t overlooked
Separates facts from wishes - Lacked (missing) vs. Longed For (wanted) drives clearer discussions
Encourages learning culture - Dedicated space for what the team learned
Easy to understand - Intuitive categories anyone can use immediately
Comprehensive - Covers emotions, learning, gaps, and desires in one format

The Four Categories Explained

Liked: What Did We Enjoy?

The Liked category captures positive experiences and things the team appreciated during the sprint.

What belongs here:

Processes that worked well
Positive team interactions
Wins and successes
Things that made work enjoyable

Examples:

“Liked the pair programming sessions—learned a lot and caught bugs early”
“Liked how the daily standups were kept under 15 minutes”
“Liked that we delivered the feature on time despite the complexity”
“Liked the team lunch to celebrate the release”
“Liked the clear sprint goal—everyone knew what success looked like”

Prompts to use:

What made you happy this sprint?
What would you want to repeat?
What interactions were positive?
What felt good about our process?

Learned: What Did We Discover?

The Learned category captures new knowledge, skills, and insights gained during the sprint.

What belongs here:

Technical skills learned
Process improvements discovered
Insights about the product or users
Team dynamics understanding
Mistakes that taught valuable lessons

Examples:

“Learned that our caching layer can’t handle more than 10K concurrent users”
“Learned that stakeholders prefer demos with real data, not mocked data”
“Learned a new testing pattern that reduced our test setup time by 50%”
“Learned that we underestimate database migration tasks every time”
“Learned that async communication works better for complex decisions”

Prompts to use:

What new skills did you develop?
What surprised you this sprint?
What do you know now that you didn’t before?
What would you tell past-you about this sprint?

💡 The Learned category is unique to 4Ls and builds a learning culture within your team.

Lacked: What Was Missing?

The Lacked category identifies gaps, missing resources, and insufficient support during the sprint.

What belongs here:

Missing tools or resources
Insufficient information or requirements
Gaps in skills or knowledge
Missing processes or practices
Communication breakdowns

Examples:

“Lacked clear acceptance criteria for the search feature”
“Lacked access to production logs when debugging the outage”
“Lacked time for proper code review on the final PR”
“Lacked design input before starting the UI work”
“Lacked documentation for the legacy API we needed to integrate with”

Prompts to use:

What resources were insufficient?
Where did we struggle due to missing information?
What tools would have helped?
What support did we need but not have?

Longed For: What Did We Wish We Had?

The Longed For category captures desires and wishes—things that would have made the sprint better or things the team wants for the future.

How it differs from Lacked:

Lacked = Something was missing and caused problems
Longed For = Something would be nice to have / aspirational

Examples:

“Longed for automated deployment to staging”
“Longed for more time to refactor the payment module”
“Longed for a dedicated QA person on the team”
“Longed for a clearer product roadmap beyond this quarter”
“Longed for better work-life balance during the crunch”

Prompts to use:

What would have made this sprint easier?
In an ideal world, what would we have?
What do you dream about for our team/process?
What would help us work more effectively?

When to Use the 4Ls Retrospective

The 4Ls format works well in many situations:

Situation	Why 4Ls Works
Regular sprint retros	Comprehensive coverage of all aspects
After learning-heavy sprints	Dedicated Learned category
Teams new to retros	Intuitive categories
Balanced perspective needed	Captures positives and negatives
After onboarding new members	Great for capturing fresh perspectives

When to Consider Other Formats

After a failure or difficult sprint - Try Mad Sad Glad for emotional processing first
Need quick actions - Try Start Stop Continue for faster, action-focused retros
Visual team preferences - Try Sailboat or Starfish

How to Run a 4Ls Retrospective

Before the Meeting

Preparation:

Schedule 45-60 minutes
Prepare a board with four columns (physical or digital)
Gather sticky notes and markers (or set up digital tool)
Review action items from previous retrospective
Send optional pre-work: “Think about what you Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For”

Step-by-Step Facilitation

Step 1: Set the Stage (5 minutes)

Welcome the team and explain the format:

“Today we’re using the 4Ls retrospective. We’ll reflect on what we Liked, what we Learned, what we Lacked, and what we Longed For. Remember, this is a safe space—focus on processes and situations, not individuals.”

Optional: Start with a quick icebreaker to warm up the group.

Step 2: Individual Brainstorming (10 minutes)

Have everyone write sticky notes silently and independently:

Minimum 1 item per category
One idea per sticky note
Brief phrases are fine—you’ll explain during sharing

Facilitator tip: Give a 2-minute warning and call out each category to ensure coverage: “Make sure you’ve at least one Learned item.”

💡 Use RetroFlow for anonymous digital brainstorming—completely free, no signup required.

Go through each category, having team members share their items:

Order recommendation: Liked → Learned → Lacked → Longed For

For each item:

Author reads it aloud
Brief clarification if needed (30 seconds max)
Place on the board
Cluster similar items together

Facilitator tips:

Keep the pace moving
Note themes as they emerge
Save debate for discussion phase

Step 4: Dot Voting (5 minutes)

Give each person 4-6 votes (dots) to distribute across all categories:

Can put multiple dots on one item
Vote on items you want to discuss or act on
This surfaces team priorities

Step 5: Discuss Top Items (15 minutes)

Focus discussion on the highest-voted items:

For Liked/Learned items:

How can we ensure this continues?
Can we apply this learning elsewhere?
How do we share this with others?

For Lacked/Longed For items:

What’s the root cause?
What can we do about it?
Is this within our control?

Step 6: Create Action Items (5 minutes)

Convert discussion into 1-3 concrete actions:

Item	Action	Owner	Due Date
Lacked clear requirements	Schedule requirements review meeting before each sprint	Sarah	Next Monday
Longed for automated tests	Add CI pipeline task to next sprint backlog	Mike	Sprint planning
Learned pair programming value	Schedule 2 pairing sessions next sprint	Team	Ongoing

Step 7: Close (5 minutes)

Summarize action items and owners
Thank the team for participation
Optional: Quick feedback on the retro itself

4Ls Retrospective Template

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        4Ls RETROSPECTIVE                                │
├──────────────────┬──────────────────┬──────────────────┬───────────────┤
│      LIKED       │     LEARNED      │      LACKED      │  LONGED FOR   │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│  What did we     │  What did we     │  What was        │  What did we  │
│  enjoy?          │  discover?       │  missing?        │  wish we had? │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
│                  │                  │                  │               │
└──────────────────┴──────────────────┴──────────────────┴───────────────┘

ACTION ITEMS:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Action                    │  Owner      │  Due Date                   │
├────────────────────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│                            │             │                             │
│                            │             │                             │
└────────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘

Sample Questions for Each Category

Liked Questions

What was the highlight of this sprint?
What made you proud of the team?
What process worked particularly well?
What interactions were positive?
What would you want to experience again?

Learned Questions

What surprised you this sprint?
What new skill did you develop?
What do you know now that you didn’t two weeks ago?
What mistake taught you something valuable?
What insight about our product/users did you gain?

Lacked Questions

What information did you need but not have?
What resource was insufficient?
Where did you feel unsupported?
What tool would have helped?
What process gap caused problems?

Longed For Questions

In an ideal world, what would we have?
What would make your job easier?
What’s on your wish list for the team?
What would help us move faster?
What would make this a great place to work?

For more questions, see our complete retrospective questions guide.

Running this format remotely? Check our guide to remote retrospectives for virtual facilitation tips.

Tips for Facilitating 4Ls

Best Practices

Start with Liked - Sets a positive tone for the retrospective
Give Learned equal weight - This category builds team learning culture
Distinguish Lacked vs Longed For - Help team clarify: “Was this truly missing, or a nice-to-have?”
Look for patterns across categories - Often Lacked and Longed For items point to the same underlying issue
Celebrate Learned items - Even painful experiences become valuable when framed as learning

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Rushing through Liked - Positive feedback deserves time
Ignoring Learned - This unique category is the format’s strength
Conflating Lacked and Longed For - Keep them distinct for clearer actions
Too many action items - Stick to 1-3 achievable actions
Not following up - Review previous actions at each retrospective

For Remote Teams

Use a digital collaboration tool everyone can access
Enable anonymous input for honest feedback
Give extra brainstorming time for async input
Use reactions/emoji to add energy
Read items aloud for team members with connectivity issues

4Ls vs Other Retrospective Formats

Format	Categories	Best For
4Ls	Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed For	Balanced reflection with learning focus
Start Stop Continue	Start, Stop, Continue	Quick, action-oriented retros
Mad Sad Glad	Mad, Sad, Glad	Emotional processing
DAKI	Drop, Add, Keep, Improve	Process improvement focus
Starfish	More, Less, Keep, Start, Stop	Nuanced action categories

When to Choose 4Ls Over Alternatives

Choose 4Ls when:

You want to capture learning alongside feedback
You need both emotional (Liked) and practical (Lacked) input
Your team is comfortable with slightly more structure
You have 45-60 minutes available

If you enjoy 4Ls, try these related formats:

Start Stop Continue - Simpler three-column format
DAKI Retrospective - Drop, Add, Keep, Improve for process focus
Starfish Retrospective - Five-point action-oriented format
Mad Sad Glad - Emotional focus

See all options in our sprint retrospective formats guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 4Ls stand for in a retrospective?

The 4Ls stand for Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For. Each category captures a different dimension of the team’s sprint experience — what went well, what was discovered, what was missing, and what the team wishes they had.

How is the 4Ls retrospective different from Start Stop Continue?

The 4Ls focuses more on reflection and feelings (Liked, Longed For) while Start Stop Continue focuses on actions. The 4Ls is better for surfacing emotional responses and learning moments, while Start Stop Continue produces more direct action items.

How long does a 4Ls retrospective take?

Plan for 45-60 minutes for a team of 5-8 people. The four categories require slightly more discussion time than simpler formats, but the extra depth usually produces richer insights.

Give It a Try

Want to run a 4Ls retrospective without fussing over setup? RetroFlow comes with a built-in template, dot voting, and anonymous mode — no signup, no cost.

Start a free retro →

Summary

The 4Ls retrospective is a balanced, comprehensive format that captures:

Liked - What the team enjoyed
Learned - Knowledge and insights gained
Lacked - What was missing or insufficient
Longed For - Wishes and aspirations

It’s particularly valuable for building a learning culture while addressing practical needs. Run it in 45-60 minutes following the step-by-step facilitation guide above.