Concept 8 of 11

Sprint Planning

1 question test this

Sprint Planning opens the Sprint. The whole Scrum Team collaborates on the plan, and the Product Owner ensures attendees are prepared to discuss the most important Product Backlog items and how they map to the Product Goal. The Scrum Team may invite others to provide advice.

Topic One, why is this Sprint valuable?

The Product Owner proposes how the product could increase its value and utility in the current Sprint. The whole Scrum Team then collaborates to define a Sprint Goal that communicates why the Sprint is valuable to stakeholders. The Sprint Goal must be finalised before Sprint Planning ends.

Topic Two, what can be Done this Sprint?

In discussion with the Product Owner, the Developers select items from the Product Backlog to include in the Sprint. The Scrum Team may refine these items during the process, which increases understanding and confidence. Selecting how much can be completed is often challenging; the more the Developers know about their past performance, upcoming capacity and Definition of Done, the more confident they will be in their forecast.

Topic Three, how will the chosen work get done?

For each selected item, the Developers plan the work needed to create an Increment that meets the Definition of Done. This is often done by decomposing items into smaller work items of one day or less. How this is done is at the sole discretion of the Developers; no one else tells them how to turn Product Backlog items into Increments of value.

The output

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

Common misconceptions

The Product Owner presents a finished Sprint Backlog at Sprint Planning.

The plan is created by the whole Scrum Team. The Product Owner proposes how the product could increase value; the Developers select the items and decide how the work will be done.

Sprint Planning always takes the full eight hours.

Eight hours is a maximum for a one-month Sprint, not a target. Shorter Sprints usually have shorter events.

Every selected item must be broken into tasks before the event ends.

Developers may decompose items into smaller work items during Sprint Planning or during the Sprint. The Guide leaves how this is done to the Developers.

1 question test this concept

A Product Owner arrives at Sprint Planning with a list of items and expects the meeting to be a handover. Which three topics does Sprint Planning actually address?

  • AWhat went well last Sprint, what to improve, and what to commit to
  • BScope, schedule and budget for the Sprint
  • CBacklog refinement, estimation and assignment
  • DWhy this Sprint is valuable, what can be Done this Sprint, and how the chosen work will get done
Check whether it stuck.

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Related material
Book
Agile Estimating and Planning, On capacity, velocity and what a forecast can carry.
Template
Backlog refinement agenda, A ninety-minute structure covering the current Product Goal, what changed since the last session, and the items nearest the top that are not yet ready for selection.