There’s a reason weather forecasts tell you there’s a 70% chance of rain instead of promising it’ll rain at exactly 3 PM. They use the information available, account for uncertainty, and update as new data comes in. You can still plan your afternoon around them, as long as you don’t mistake the forecast for a guarantee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sprint planning works on a similar principle. A Scrum Team has a product backlog, an estimate of its available capacity, and a goal it wants to achieve. But some work details only become clear as the sprint progresses. Planning every hour in advance leaves little room for those discoveries, while going in without a shared direction makes it harder to decide what deserves attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aim is to agree on a valuable outcome and forecast how much work the team can complete to achieve it. From there, the team can adapt its plan as it learns more without losing sight of the sprint goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This guide covers backlog preparation, a timed planning agenda, practical capacity calculations, and a worked example that shows how to adjust the plan during the sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n
TL;DR<\/strong> Sprint planning is a Scrum event held at the beginning of each sprint to agree on what the team wants to achieve and how it’ll approach the work. It brings the entire Scrum Team together, including the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and developers. Other specialists, such as security engineers or customer-facing leads, can also join when their input would help the team make informed decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Scrum Guide<\/a>, every planning session should produce three things: a sprint goal that explains the value of the work, a selection of product backlog items that support that goal, and an initial plan for delivering them. Together, these form the sprint backlog<\/strong>, which developers continue to update as the sprint progresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Scrum Guide sets a maximum of eight hours for a one-month sprint, and shorter sprints usually need less. With a well-refined backlog, the agenda below fits in two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re unfamiliar with some of these terms, our glossary covers the basics of agile and Scrum<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every sprint planning session revolves around three questions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Scrum Guide<\/a> organizes planning around these questions, starting with the value you want to deliver. Once everyone’s clear on that, it’s easier to decide which backlog items deserve attention and how much work your team can reasonably take on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sprint planning brings the Scrum Team together to agree on one sprint goal, select backlog items, and establish an initial delivery plan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
What Is Sprint Planning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Three Questions Sprint Planning Answers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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