Templates · Essentials

WRAP (Wishes, Risks, Appreciations, Puzzles)

Looks ahead more than back: what people wish for, whom they thank, which risks they see and what puzzles them.

What it is

Four questions whose subjects spell the name: wishes, risks, appreciations, puzzles. On the board the columns come in another order: wishes, appreciations, risks, puzzles. None of them reviews the sprint as such; the format asks where the team stands and what is coming.

Goal

An early warning. The team sees the risks nobody is handling and the things that do not add up, beside what its members want and whom they thank.

When to use it

• In the middle of a project or before a milestone, when looking ahead matters more than reviewing.
• When the team senses trouble and cannot name it yet.
• In turn with a format that looks back, to break the routine.

When to pick another format

WRAP does not go over what happened. After an eventful sprint, take Went well, To improve, Action ideas or Original 4, which keeps a column for puzzles. At the very start of a project, Hopes and Fears is simpler. When risks dominate, the RAID Log or a Pre-mortem go further.

How to run it

1. 😇 What are your wishes? Ask what each person wants for the team going forward.
2. 🤗 What do you appreciate? Ask for credit to people whose work made someone else’s easier, with names and specifics.
3. 😨 What risks do you see? Ask for risks people can see coming that nobody is handling yet.
4. 😵 What is puzzling you? Ask for things that do not add up and deserve a closer look.

Read the appreciations aloud first. Then group and vote on the risks: for each of the most voted, decide who watches it or what reduces it, with an owner and a date. Take the puzzles next: some are answered on the spot, the others are given to one person to look into. End with the wishes, and pick those the team can make true soon.

Columns

To start a retrospective from this template, see Create a retro.