The WRAP retrospective is a versatile reflection framework that helps teams explore four key dimensions of their work experience: Wishes, Risks, Appreciations, and Puzzles. This balanced approach combines forward-thinking aspirations with practical risk assessment, while fostering team recognition and addressing uncertainties.
By examining wishes, teams can articulate their aspirations and improvements. The risks component helps identify potential obstacles and challenges. Appreciations create a positive atmosphere by acknowledging contributions, while puzzles surface areas that need clarification or resolution.
This easy retrospective idea is based on a concept by Nick Oostvogel and aims to explore different aspects of a sprint or event.
What is The WRAP Retrospective
Wishes
Wishes for a perfect world going forward.
Guide the team to think aspirationally about improvements without immediate constraints. Encourage both small practical wishes and ambitious long-term desires. Help participants frame wishes constructively rather than as complaints.
Risks
Things that could bring chaos.
Help the team identify potential threats to their success while maintaining a solution-oriented mindset. Focus on risks that can be mitigated through team actions, and encourage practical suggestions for risk management.
Appreciations
People, teams or things you want to recognize.
Create a safe space for genuine appreciation. Encourage specific examples rather than general praise, and ensure everyone has a chance to both give and receive recognition.
Puzzles
Questions that remain unanswered.
Encourage the team to surface uncertainties and open questions. Focus on identifying puzzles that affect team performance or project success, and work together to find ways to get clarity.
Suggested Icebreaker Questions
- If you could have one wish granted for the team right now, what would it be?
- What's something you've been puzzled about lately that turned out to have a simple solution?
Ideas and Tips for Your Retrospective Meeting
- Start with Appreciations to create a positive atmosphere before diving into more challenging topics
- Keep a parking lot for items that need further discussion or don't fit neatly into any category
- Use dot voting to prioritize which items to discuss in detail if time is limited
- Encourage everyone to contribute to each category to ensure diverse perspectives
- Consider breaking larger teams into smaller groups for initial brainstorming
- End by creating specific action items for addressing key risks and puzzles
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