I Like, I Wish, I Wonder Retrospective: Guide & Template
The I Like, I Wish, I Wonder retrospective brings three things to the table that otherwise easily get lost in day-to-day sprint life: What went well? What should change? And what is still unclear? Especially when a team doesn’t just want to talk about problems, this format creates a balanced, honest retro.
How the “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder” retrospective works
The method is deliberately simple: Each person completes three sentence starters with the last sprint in mind. Only after that do you discuss the contributions together. You can leave the sentence starters exactly as they are or phrase them as questions.
Open the template directly in Echometer and adapt it to your team:
I Like, I Wish, I Wonder Retro: How the retro works
Random Icebreaker (2-5 minutes)
Echometer provides you with a generator for random check-in questions.
Review of open actions (2-5 minutes)
Before starting with new topics, you should talk about what has become of the measures from past retrospectives to check their effectiveness. Echometer automatically lists all open action items from past retros.
Discuss retro topics
Use the following open questions to collect your most important findings. First, everyone does it themselves, covered. Echometer allows you to reveal each column of the retro board individually in order to then present and group the feedback.
- I like: What do you like or what did you like?
- I wish: What do you wish for?
- I wonder: What are you confused about, what are you wondering?
Catch-all question (Recommended)
So that other topics also have a place:
- What else would you like to talk about in the retro?
Prioritization / Voting (5 minutes)
On the retro board in Echometer, you can easily prioritize the feedback with voting. The voting is of course anonymous.
Define actions (10-20 minutes)
You can create a linked action via the plus symbol on a feedback. Not sure which measure would be the right one? Then open a whiteboard on the topic via the plus symbol instead to brainstorm root causes and possible measures.
Checkout / Closing (5 minutes)
Echometer enables you to collect anonymous feedback from the team on how helpful the retro was. This creates the ROTI score ("Return On Time Invested"), which you can track over time.
I Like, I Wish, I Wonder Retro
What matters is that “I wonder” doesn’t become a token column: Open questions often hide assumptions, coordination problems, or topics the team has so far sidestepped.
Process “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder” as a retrospective: from impressions to one action in 30 minutes
- Arrive (3 minutes): Start with a short check-in for retrospectivesso everyone can settle into the room.
- Collect silently (5 minutes): Everyone writes down their answers for themselves first.
- Cluster and understand (12 minutes): Group similar contributions, then discuss the key patterns together.
- Decide (7 minutes): Choose one topic and turn it into a concrete action for the retrospective.
- Check out (3 minutes): Each person says in one sentence what they are taking away from the retro.
Three facilitation tips that make the difference with “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder”
Keep contributions hidden at first. This creates more original thoughts and less echoing of the first opinion spoken aloud.
Don’t stop at taking stock. A lively discussion is valuable — but only if you decide at the end what you will do differently in the next sprint. Good actions are small, clear, and have one responsible person.
Don’t talk the positive down. “I like” is more than a friendly opening. Here you discover practices that you should consciously keep or strengthen.
When is the format “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder” suitable?
The I Like, I Wish, I Wonder retrospective is especially well suited after an eventful sprint, with new teams, and when recent conversations have been very problem-focused. It is low-threshold enough for retro beginners, but also gives experienced teams good conversation starters.
If your retrospectives keep ending up in the same discussions, vary your check-in or the format as well. That helps against retro fatigue — without losing focus on real improvement.
Conclusion: “I Like, I Wish, I Wonder” are simple questions that lead to concrete improvements with good facilitation
The I Like, I Wish, I Wonder retrospective makes it easy for the team to voice appreciation, wishes for change, and uncertainties. Give silent collecting enough room — and invest the rest of the time in one action that you will actually implement. For more variety, you’ll find here retrospective methods for beginners and pros.
