Sprint Planning
Framework: Scrum sprint planning
Use for: Committing a team to a single goal and a realistic set of work for the next sprint
Time required: 1–2 hours at the start of each sprint
How to use this template
- Run it at the start of each sprint, before any work begins. Planning is not grooming — come in with a backlog that is already refined and ranked.
- Set ONE sprint goal first, then pull items that serve it. A sprint with five unrelated goals has no goal.
- Commit to what the team's real capacity allows, using recent velocity as the anchor — not what stakeholders wish for.
- Nothing enters the sprint without a clear acceptance criterion and an owner. "We'll figure it out" is how sprints slip.
- Write down what you are explicitly NOT doing. The out-of-scope list is what kills mid-sprint scope creep.
Header
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Team | [Name] |
| Sprint | [Number / name] |
| Dates | [Start] → [End] |
| Sprint length | [1 / 2 / 3 weeks] |
| Scrum Master / Facilitator | [Name] |
| Product Owner | [Name] |
Sprint Goal
One sentence. If you can't state it in a sentence, the sprint isn't focused yet.
[The single outcome this sprint exists to achieve.]
Capacity
Plan against real availability, not headcount. Subtract holidays, PTO, on-call, and standing meetings.
| Team member | Days available | Notes (PTO, on-call, split focus) |
|---|---|---|
| [Name] | [X] | [Notes] |
| [Name] | [X] | [Notes] |
| [Name] | [X] | [Notes] |
Recent velocity (last 3 sprints): [X, Y, Z] → planning target: [average, adjusted for capacity]
Sprint Backlog
Pulled from the top of the product backlog, in priority order. Each item gets an owner and an acceptance criterion before it counts as committed.
| # | Item | Owner | Estimate | Acceptance criteria | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Story / task] | [Name] | [pts] | [How we know it's done] | [Must / Should] |
| 2 | [Story / task] | [Name] | [pts] | [How we know it's done] | [Must / Should] |
| 3 | [Story / task] | [Name] | [pts] | [How we know it's done] | [Must / Should] |
| 4 | [Story / task] | [Name] | [pts] | [How we know it's done] | [Must / Should] |
Committed total: [points] — within capacity? [Yes / No. If no, cut the lowest Should.]
Definition of Done
The shared bar for "complete." If it isn't on this list, "done" is just an opinion. Every box checked before a story counts.
- Code reviewed and merged
- Tests written and passing
- Acceptance criteria met
- Documentation updated
- Deployed to [staging / production]
- [Your team's additional bar]
Dependencies & Risks
| Item | Type | Depends on / Risk | Owner | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [What] | [Dependency / Risk] | [On whom or what] | [Name] | [Plan] |
| [What] | [Dependency / Risk] | [On whom or what] | [Name] | [Plan] |
Explicitly out of scope this sprint
Naming what you are not doing matters as much as naming what you are. This list is the scope-creep firewall.
- [Item deferred — and why]
- [Item deferred — and why]
Commitment check
- One clear sprint goal, stated in a sentence
- Committed work fits real capacity
- Every item has an owner and acceptance criteria
- Definition of Done agreed
- The team — not a manager — made the commitment
A sprint is a forecast the team owns, not a deadline handed to it. More on Agile and delivery methodologies at biztechprimer.com.