Column 1
Wishes
What do we hope will be different or possible next?
Example cards
- I wish releases needed fewer manual checks.
- I wish discovery reached engineers earlier.
- I wish action items stayed visible.
Ready-to-use template
WRAP Retrospective
WRAP stands for Wishes, Risks, Appreciations, and Puzzles. It produces a broad picture when the team needs to look forward, recognize contribution, and expose uncertainty at the same time.
- Duration
- 30–40 minutes
- Team size
- 3–12 people
- Best for
- Project transitions, uncertain work, and balanced forward-looking reviews
What each column means
Use the prompts to keep cards specific. The examples show the level of detail that makes discussion and voting useful.
Column 2
Risks
What could undermine delivery, quality, or team health?
Example cards
- One person owns the migration knowledge.
- The launch depends on an untested limit.
- Support load may exceed capacity.
Column 3
Appreciations
Which contribution or behavior helped the team?
Example cards
- Thanks for documenting the rollback.
- Design tested the concept before build.
- Ops explained the alert pattern clearly.
Column 4
Puzzles
What remains confusing, contradictory, or unknown?
Example cards
- Why does review time spike on Fridays?
- Which adoption signal matters first?
- Why do estimates miss integration work?
30–40 minutes agenda
A complete path from framing the room to assigning one concrete follow-up.
- 013 minutes
Frame the review
Name the sprint or project being reviewed, restate the purpose of each column, and remind everyone to describe observable events.
- 027 minutes
Write observations silently
Give everyone uninterrupted time to add one specific observation per card across every column.
- 037 minutes
Share and clarify
Read the cards column by column and let authors add context without debating solutions yet.
- 045 minutes
Group and vote
Combine cards that describe the same pattern, then vote for the themes that would most improve the next iteration.
- 0510 minutes
Discuss the leading themes
Explore causes, consequences, and tradeoffs behind the highest-voted themes while making space for dissenting evidence.
- 065 minutes
Commit to one change
Turn the strongest insight into a small action with an owner, deadline, and signal the team can review next time.
Use this format when
- A project has meaningful uncertainty.
- The team wants recognition without losing risk discussion.
- A milestone transition needs forward-looking questions.
Choose another format when
- The team needs a narrow process decision.
- A puzzle requires private investigation before group discussion.
- There is too little time to cover four different perspectives.
Facilitation tips
- Keep Wishes within the team influence where possible.
- Separate Risks from problems already happening.
- Make Appreciations behavioral and specific.
- Allow Puzzles to remain open when evidence is missing.
- Assign an owner to investigate the selected puzzle.
Useful variations
Release WRAP
Scope wishes and risks to launch readiness, adoption, operations, and support.
Team WRAP
Focus on collaboration, skills, workload, and working agreements.
Async WRAP
Collect broad input ahead of time and use live time to connect risks with puzzles.
Before the retro
Recommended warm-up
This or That
Use a quick, low-pressure choice round before the retrospective begins.
Frequently asked questions
What does WRAP stand for in retrospectives?
WRAP stands for Wishes, Risks, Appreciations, and Puzzles.
What is a Puzzle in WRAP?
A Puzzle is an unresolved question or surprising pattern that needs more evidence before the team chooses a solution.
How are Wishes different from actions?
Wishes describe a desired future state; the team still needs to translate a prioritized wish into a small owned action.
When should a team use WRAP?
Use it for uncertain projects or transitions that benefit from aspiration, risk, recognition, and inquiry together.
Related retrospective templates
Sailboat Retrospective
Map the forces moving the team forward, the anchors slowing it down, the risks ahead, and the destination everyone is trying to reach.
ROBIN Retrospective
Turn a broad review of risks, opportunities, strengths, and improvements into explicit next steps.
Run this WRAP Retrospective
Open the ready-made columns, invite the team, collect observations, vote, and leave with an owned improvement.