Sprint planning is an important event in the Scrum framework where the team plans work to be completed in the upcoming sprint. Effective sprint planning sets the stage for a successful sprint execution. Here are some tips for agile teams to have better sprint planning.
Define Clear Sprint Goals
The sprint planning meeting should start by defining 1-2 clear sprint goals that the team wants to achieve in the sprint. The product owner can present high-level themes or focus areas for the sprint based on business priorities and roadmap. The sprint goal helps the team understand the purpose and provides a reference for decision-making during the sprint. A clear goal such as “focus on features to enhance user engagement” or “infrastructure changes to improve scalability” can guide the team to stay focused.
Have Daily Standups
During sprint execution, the ScrumMaster should facilitate short daily standups for the team to inspect progress and identify any roadblocks. Daily standups enable early discovery of issues that may hinder a user story and provide a forum to collaborate on solutions. Keeping standups timeboxed and focused on sprint goal progress will improve velocity as issues can be resolved quickly. You can execute strategies with agile templates, to bring teams up to speed.
Break User Stories into Tasks
The product owner presents the user stories for the sprint backlog during sprint planning. The Scrum team then analyzes each user story to identify the tasks required to complete it. Breaking stories down into tasks helps estimate the effort more accurately. It also enables team members to self-organize and choose tasks matching their skills. Avoid abstract high-level tasks and instead define specific technical tasks. For example, break “Add profile feature” into – Create profile page, Update database, Define API endpoint, etc.
Give Room for Unplanned Work
While planning the sprint, the team should account for unplanned work that may come up or changes in estimated effort. Allocating some buffer for unplanned items helps maintain the sprint scope and avoid continuously extending sprint duration. A buffer of around 20% of team capacity is a good rule of thumb. The buffer also gives room for team members to handle small production issues and other organizational needs that may arise during the sprint.
Limit Work in Progress
To keep the sprint execution focused, the team should limit how much work each member takes up across different user stories. For example, a developer working on 3 complex user stories in parallel can reduce their productivity due to constant context switching. Ideally, team members should work on one user story at a time, moving to the next as the current nears completion. Limiting work in progress reduces clutter, and confusion and allows the team to deliver user stories faster.
Clearly defining the objective, breaking down work, allocating buffers, limiting work in progress, and actively tracking progress via daily standups can help agile teams execute sprints more effectively. Sprint planning is a collaborative activity that sets the foundation for the upcoming sprint. Keeping these tips in mind will help teams start sprints on the right note and deliver value consistently.