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| Criterion |  Operations After-Action Review |  Agile Mad Sad Glad |  Agile 4Ls Retrospective |  Agile Sprint Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | When a team's or workshop's mood needs to become readable, it structures emotional signals with little setup. It makes strain, relief, and sources of energy tangible. | When a sprint should not only be assessed but also learned from, it captures experience in clear learning categories. It records what worked, what's missing, and what should run differently next time. | When a sprint is over and friction shouldn't simply be carried forward, it opens the view onto collaboration and patterns. It creates space to see causes and changes together. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 30-60 min | 45–75 min | Up to 3 hours for a one-month Sprint; shorter Sprints are usually shorter |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 3-10 | Team members involved | Scrum Team |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Emotion Board, Themes, Action Items | 4Ls Board, Learning Themes, Improvement Actions | Improvement actions, Team agreements |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | RetrospectiveTeamReflection | RetrospectiveLearningReflectionTeam | RetrospectiveImprovementLearning |