how do you conduct a sprint planning session

How to Run a Sprint Planning Meeting (the Way I Like It)

Full Answer

How to have an effective sprint planning meeting?

The Planning Steps

• Remind the team of the big picture or goal
• Discuss any new information that may impact the plan
• Present the velocity to be used for this release
• Confirm team capacity
• Confirm any currently known issues and concerns and record as appropriate

More items...

Who attends sprint planning meeting?

Who attends sprint planning? In Scrum, the sprint planning meeting is attended by the product owner, ScrumMaster and the entire Scrum team. Outside stakeholders may attend by invitation of the team, although this is rare in most companies. During the sprint planning meeting, the product owner describes the highest priority features to the team.

What happens at a sprint planning meeting?

• Come prepared with data and estimated story points
• Confirm estimated story points for all items on the backlog (or, at minimum, in the next sprint)
• Agree on the items to move to the new sprint
• Determine the team’s capacity for the upcoming sprint and compare it with the total story points proposed

More items...

How to run an agile marketing sprint planning session?

• Review the marketing model
• Set the goals of the Sprint
• Create/Review the Marketing backlog
• Create the Sprint Plan

What are the three parts of sprint planning?

The 3 Essential Phases of Planning Successful SprintsPhase One: Designing. ... Phase Two: Estimate Sprint Velocity. ... Phase Three: Allocate Work to the Sprint.

WHO should facilitate the sprint planning meeting?

Sprint planning is a collaborative effort involving a ScrumMaster, who facilitates the meeting, a Product Owner, who clarifies the details of the product backlog items and their respective acceptance criteria, and the Entire Agile Team, who define the work and effort necessary to meet their sprint commitment.

How long should a sprint planning session be?

Sprint Planning is timeboxed to a maximum of eight hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter.

How does a scrum master facilitate sprint planning?

A scrum master or coach typically facilitates sprint planning in order to ensure that the discussion is effective and that there is agreement to the sprint goal and that the appropriate product backlog items are included in the sprint backlog.

What should a development team do during a sprint planning meeting?

A sprint planning meeting is a working session for scrum teams to align on what will be accomplished during the next sprint and how the work will be completed. The development team and product owner collaborate to prioritize work and regroup around sprint goals.

When should a sprint planning meeting happen?

Sprint planning is an important scrum ceremony in which the scrum team decides what work it will commit to in the upcoming sprint. Whether your teams work in two- or four-week sprints, the sprint planning ceremony should take place at the beginning of each sprint.

What are the key activities done in the sprint planning?

Sprint planning involves two key tasks: grooming the backlog and deciding which work to complete in the upcoming sprint. At Atlassian, we've found that backlog grooming is best done in a separate meeting with the product owner and scrum master before the actual sprint planning meeting.

What are the 5 sprint ceremonies?

These ceremonies, or scrum events, are held at key instances in the agile sprint cycle, which we'll outline below. There are five scrum ceremonies, sprint planning, daily standup, sprint review, sprint retrospective and product backlog grooming.

What are the activities in first sprint planning meeting?

How to run your first sprint planning meetingCome well-prepared.Present the sprint goal.Discuss product backlog items.Estimate team velocity.Determine task ownership.Conclusion.

Does the Scrum Master have to attend sprint planning?

The full Scrum team – that is the product owner, scrum master and the developers – all attend sprint planning.

How do I use sprint planning in Jira?

Plan a future sprintIf not already there, navigate to your company-managed Jira Software project.From your project's sidebar, select your Backlog.Click Create sprint at the top of the backlog section. ... Select Add dates (located under the sprint's header) to plan the start and end date of your future sprint.

Which three things are Scrum Master responsibilities during the sprint?

Broadly, however, a Scrum Master might have the following responsibilities: Facilitate daily Scrum meetings (also called “daily standups”) Lead sprint planning meetings. Conduct “retrospective” reviews to see what went well and what can be improved for the following sprint.

Who will be involved in sprint planning meeting in agile?

A sprint planning meeting is when the team (including the Scrum Master, Scrum Product Manager, and Scrum Team) meets to determine which backlog items will be handled in the next sprint. The sprint planning Scrum ceremony is a collaborative process that allows team members to have a say in when work happens.

Who is responsible for directing the sprint meeting?

In Scrum, the sprint planning meeting is attended by the product owner, ScrumMaster and the entire Scrum team. Outside stakeholders may attend by invitation of the team, although this is rare in most companies. During the sprint planning meeting, the product owner describes the highest priority features to the team.

Who facilitates sprint review?

Generally, the Scrum Master facilitates the sprint review, and the product owner gives the demo. However, sometimes, team members are called upon to do demos. The product owner explains what backlog items have been done and which are undone.

Is the product owner a chicken or a pig in the sprint planning meeting?

The "Pigs" are usually the actual team members, the Scrum Master or the Product Owner. "Chickens" are the roles of the managers or stakeholders.

Why should you organize a sprint planning meeting?

If you are in the position of a project manager or a ScrumMaster on a team , then you should really be organizing sprint planning meetings to have your team deliver quality development work per sprint. These gatherings will help your team achieve success because it lets them know what their roles are and what they need to deliver.

Why a Sprint Planning Meeting is necessary?

You will ask yourself a question: Why should you have a sprint planning meeting in the first place? Well, you need to have one because it is an amazing opportunity to gather all of the team in one place and let everyone know what their role is, in the upcoming sprint.

What to do if your first sprint meeting doesn't go well?

If you’re organizing your first-ever sprint meeting, then just keep on thing in mind that every entity in the Agile paradigm improves over time and if your first meeting doesn’t go well then you can always improve yourself into performing well the next time.

What is a listicle in a sprint?

This is basically a listicle of all of the items that are present in the product backlog which has been selected by the team and has been committed to be worked on during the course of the sprint. It also contains the estimation of each task and also the information about all of the necessary tasks that are needed to deliver the work.

What is sprint goal?

Sprint Goal. Sprint Goal is a little description of what the goals and milestones of the team should be during the sprint. The whole team participates in writing this charter and they can always revert back to its central idea if they get off track.

Why is sprint planning important?

Sprint Planning is an incredible technique to bring the team closer because as a manager you are not supposed to show any bias, and everyone is treated equally.

What is sprint meeting?

Sprint Meetings are a Reference Point to Measure Velocity. If you want to know how much your team is capable of accomplishing their goals, you should run a sprint planning meeting. This is typically called velocity and it is only calculated after a particular team has been working together for a while.

What is sprint planning?

Sprint Planning ensures the Product Owner and Scrum Team collaborate and negotiate the work for the sprint - not just aim for optimal “resource utilization” - as it creates a platform to communicate dependencies, identify the Team’s capacity, and further ensures daily productivity.

What should be considered when determining a sprint goal?

Additionally, time should also be allotted for Scrum ceremonies as they reduce the Team’s capacity. Any constraints to the project or environment, dependencies, or the Team’s capabilities (i.e. technical skillsets) should also be considered as they directly impact estimates and overall velocity.

Why should time be allocated for Scrum ceremonies?

Additionally, time should also be allotted for Scrum ceremonies as they reduce the Team’s capacity. Any constraints to the project or environment, dependencies, or the Team’s capabilities (i.e. technical skillsets) should also be considered as they directly impact estimates and overall velocity.

When should the next priority items be ready in the product backlog?

Once the Product Owner and Scrum Team select the user stories for the Sprint Backlog, the next highest priority items should be ready in the Product Backlog - either for the next sprint planning session or in the event the team has bandwidth to bring it in.

Why Should You Run A Sprint Planning Meeting?

Why run a sprint planning meeting? Because it is a great opportunity to get the whole team together and collaborate to establish what everyone is responsible for over the next sprint! From a personal perspective it was difficult for our team to identify what exactly they were working on each sprint, and – more importantly why – before we adopted this agile practice. Since then, it’s been much easier for our team to work together and feel more confident about what we’re supposed to deliver.

What is sprint planning?

In the weeks or days leading up to sprint planning, the Product Owner must ensure that all items in the backlog that could be considered for the sprint (features, bugs, optimizations, stakeholder feedback, etc.) meet the team’s definition of ready. This means that items are organized, dependencies identified or removed, test cases are written, acceptance criteria is listed, and all descriptions are set. Without this prep work, the sprint planning meeting is less efficient and more time-consuming for everyone.

What to do when a sprint backlog is identified?

Once the sprint backlog has been identified, the ScrumMaster asks the whole group if they are aligned on the plan. Review it against your current velocity and capacity. Review it against the overall product vision. Ask every person if they’re comfortable with it.

How long should a sprint meeting be?

For a two-week sprint, plan for about four hours. As a general rule of thumb, multiply the number of weeks in your sprint by two hours to get your total sprint planning meeting length.”. Assuming all of that is taken care of, you are ready to dive into your sprint planning meeting!

What to do if anything else came up during sprint planning that wasn’t already on the radar?

If anything else came up during sprint planning that wasn’t already on the radar, find a space to record those and identify action items.

What is the most important part of a sprint planning meeting?

Arguably the most important part of a sprint planning meeting is the preparation that must be done before the meeting starts.

What is a sprint goal?

The sprint goal is also a quick and easy statement for stakeholders to read and understand what the team is working on, without having to go into the weeds of the backlog. The sprint goal is the measuring stick used at the end of each sprint that helps answer the question: Was this last sprint successful? One example of a sprint goal could be: Build feature X to coincide with holiday launch (signaling that a feature delivery by a certain milestone is the main sprint goal).

What should the development team explain at the end of a sprint planning meeting?

At the end of the sprint planning meeting the development team should be able to explain to the product owner and scrum master just how it’s going to work to hit the sprint goal. It might seem a little unnecessary, but it’s good to get verbal commitments from everyone in the room, explaining what they’re doing, why, and the goal.

How to create a sprint plan for a product?

Before we dive in, here's the outline of this article: Step 1: Review your product roadmap. Step 2: Groom your product backlog and update user stories. Pro Tip: Use “Story points” to properly estimate tasks. Step 3: Propose a sprint goal and backlog before the sprint planning meeting.

How long should a scrum meeting be?

That’s why the Scrum Guide suggests timeboxing your sprint planning meeting to just 8-hours for a month-long sprint (not all at once, of course). For shorter sprints, your meetings should be adjusted accordingly. Your scrum master is responsible for making sure these meetings happen and stick to their agenda.

What is the goal of agile sprint?

The goal of an agile sprint is to ship better software. But that’s easier said than done. It’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when you’re knee-deep in code fixes and updates. So how do you know what you’re focusing on is the right thing?

Why do we need sprints in Agile?

And the better prepared you are before a sprint, the more likely you are to hit your goals. Spring planning helps to refocus attention , minimize surprises, and (hopefully) guarantee better code gets shippied.

How to use story points in Planio?

You can switch to estimating in story points in Planio by going to Administration → Agile ** and selecting **Story Points as the estimate units. Story points will show up on your Agile board and can even be automatically applied to only tasks associated with sprints (by selecting a specific “tracker” to use story points).

What is the most difficult part of sprint planning?

One of the most difficult parts of proper sprint planning is being able to estimate how long tasks will take and just how much can get done during your sprint.

How does a sprint planning session work?

The sprint planning session kicks off the sprint by setting the agenda and focus. If done correctly, it also creates an environment where the team is motivated, challenged, and can be successful. Bad sprint plans can derail the team by setting unrealistic expectations.

What is sprint planning?

Sprint planning is an event in scrum that kicks off the sprint. The purpose of sprint planning is to define what can be delivered in the sprint and how that work will be achieved. Sprint planning is done in collaboration with the whole scrum team.

How long should a sprint meeting be?

Sprint planning should be constrained no more than two hours for each week of the sprint. So, for example, the sprint planning meeting for a two-week sprint would be no longer than two hours. This is called "timeboxing", or setting a maximum amount of time for the team to accomplish a task, in this case, planning the sprint. The scrum master is responsible for making sure the meeting happens the timebox is understood. If the team is happy before the timebox is finished, then the event is over. A timebox is a maximum time allowed; there is no minimum time allowed.

What is the starting point of a sprint plan?

The Inputs – A great starting point for the sprint plan is the product backlog as it provides a list of ‘stuff’ that could potentially be part of the current sprint. The team should also look at the existing work done in the increment and have a view to capacity.

What is a timebox sprint?

A timebox is a maximum time allowed; there is no minimum time allowed. Pro tip: Focus the first part of sprint planning on the objective of the sprint rather than the details of the backlog. By focusing on the goal rather than the work it is possible to find smart alternatives for how that goal is achieved.

What to do during a two week sprint?

If you have a two-week sprint, run a backlog refinement meeting in the middle of the sprint. It’s great for the team to step back from the sprint and look at what's next. Not only does it help prepare for sprint planning, but also can give a different perspective for the current work.

What is the most important outcome in a sprint planning meeting?

The Outputs – The most important outcome for the sprint planning meeting is that the team can describe the goal of the sprint and how they will start working toward that goal. This is made visible in the sprint backlog.

How long is a sprint meeting?

Meeting duration: ca. 1 hour for a 2 week sprint (it will be less if you’re an experienced team and know your domain well)

Why do we have a goal in sprints?

Come up with a sprint goal: The purpose of having a goal is to be able to select user stories that support the goal, i.e. help you work towards something bigger than just delivering a collection of stories or unrelated features. It’s also really useful to assess at the end of the sprint whether you have been successful or not. Success is achieving the sprint goal, not just delivering all the stories you had planned to get done.

Why is it important to plan individual tasks for each user story?

This makes it easier for people to collaborate around user stories and to help each other reach a shared goal.

Why do you discuss target velocity before choosing stories?

This is also the reason why I like to discuss target velocity before choosing stories for the sprint: It is all too easy to get carried away with enthusiasm and optimism.

Do you need to get tasks right upfront?

Remember that you don’t need to get the tasks right upfront: It’s perfectly fair to add new tasks to a story or to delete tasks that are no longer needed during the sprint.

How does sprint planning work?

As described in the Scrum Guide, Sprint Planning initiates the Sprint by laying out the work to be performed for the Sprint. This resulting plan is created by the collaborative work of the entire Scrum Team.

What is Sprint Goal?

The Sprint Goal, the Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus the plan for delivering them are together referred to as the Sprint Backlog.

Why is sprint goal renegotiated?

That work may or may not be done, and it can be renegotiated in order to leverage other opportunities. It might be revised just-in-time so the Development Team can segue into the next Sprint as seamlessly as possible. The achievement of the Sprint Goal can effectively become a trigger for re-planning.

When the Sprint Goal is met, any non-critical work that remains on the Sprint Backlog should be re-?

We have already considered one such policy – when the Sprint Goal is met, any non-critical work that remains on the Sprint Backlog should be re-planned. If Product Backlog refinement suggests that different items are likely to be taken on in the next Sprint Planning session, then non-critical work can be traded out and potentially more important work negotiated in.

Why is Kanban important in Scrum?

A team which switches precociously from Scrum to Kanban will often still face challenges that are best mitigated by a feature-oriented goal, albeit perhaps with decreasing frequency. That’s why it’s useful for a Scrum Team to master flow-based planning. Kanban is a strategy which they can turn to on an as-needed basis, and it is one which does not require them to compromise on using the Scrum framework itself.

What percentage of Sprint backlog can be renegotiated?

In other words, if any requirement has to be “traded out” of scope — perhaps because the team must expedite unplanned and urgent work, such as a defect or outage — then up to 40 percent of Sprint Backlog capacity can be renegotiated to facilitate the arrangement.

Why replenish sprint backlog?

The replenishment of the Sprint Backlog ought to reflect these conditions, and need not be constrained just to a Sprint Planning event, the core purpose of which is to agree and commit to an immutable Sprint Goal.

What is the need for healthy flow in Kanban?

The need for healthy flow will guide and shape the work that is forecast in a Kanban-based Sprint Planning session.

What happens to unfinished work in Sprint?

It’s important to appreciate that once the Sprint time-box does end, unfinished work doesn’t simply “roll over” into the next one. Rather, it is re-estimated on the Product Backlog to indicate how much is believed to remain.