Retrospective Activity
The 4L's
Standard Medium Popularity: 8
This activity:
- Requires some members training
- Focuses on work done
- Promotes direct actions
Introduction
The 4L's activity stands for: Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for. Members are asked to add notes regarding their work on those four sections, describing what they Liked, Learned, Lacked during their work, or Longed for to do their work better.
For the specific activity, the facilitator could use these points to describe the process:
- The Liked column is for actions, processes, interactions that the team performed and you enjoyed doing.
- The Learned column is for new actions, processes, and interactions that happened in the reflection period and brought in some new knowledge.
- The Lacked column is for actions, processes, interactions that did not happen and could benefit the team if performed.
- The Longed for column is for actions, processes, interactions that the team would benefit from if they could be implemented.
Onboarding the team to the selected activity is important for a successful meeting. To learn more on what's needed to onboard your team to a retrospective meeting, read here.
Tips & Tricks
This activity is good for data gathering over something that has concluded a full cycle. The team can focus on their experience performing the activity and are not required to identify next action steps while adding their notes.
Focus on processes, actions, and activities that the team performed or was affected by on the specific period. Avoid talking about personal feelings among individuals.
Since this activity is better suited for a full cycle reflection, avoid having a 4L's activity while in the middle of something, e.g. a retrospection in the middle of a completion cycle, or while work is on-going.
Popularity: 8
The "The 4L's" activity is popular among Team O'clock teams. It seems that many teams trust this activity for their retrospectives.
Recap
The 4L's
Standard Medium
Liked
Things we really liked and enjoyed
Learned
Things that the team learned
Lacked
Things that we lacked and could be better done next time
Longed for
A wish list of things you longed for