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Criterion
The Scrum Team inspects people, interactions, processes, tools, and the Definition of Done, then agrees on a few testable improvements.
Agile
Sprint Retrospective
Paper illustration for Sailboat Retrospective
Agile
Sailboat Retrospective
A structured reflection surfaces what was liked, learned, lacked, and longed for. It is a conversation format and does not validate actions automatically.
Agile
4Ls Retrospective
Paper illustration of a review with planned work, actual event sequence, comparison, and assigned improvement actions.
Operations
After-Action Review
Purposedifferent
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.When a team wants to read momentum, brakes, and risks together, it offers an easily understandable picture of the situation. It makes drive, obstacles, and headwind visible in the same picture.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.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.
Complexitysame
LowLowLowLow
Timedifferent
Up to 3 hours for a one-month Sprint; shorter Sprints are usually shorter45-90 min45–75 min20-45 min
Participantsdifferent
Scrum Team4-12Team members involved3-12
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Improvement actions, Team agreementsSailboat Board, Risks, Improvement Actions4Ls Board, Learning Themes, Improvement ActionsLessons learned, Action items, Event summary
Tagsno overlap
RetrospectiveImprovementLearning
RetrospectiveTeamImprovement
RetrospectiveLearningReflectionTeam
LearningOperationsImprovement
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