Skip Ahead to:
7 topics
Overview
Sprint Planning is the second tab of Backlog Refinement. It shows the cards that are ready for a sprint next to the sprints they can go into. As you drag cards into a sprint, the sprint shows how much is planned against its capacity.
The number beside the tab name is the number of cards in Sprint Planning, both Ready and Planned.
You can also plan sprints from the standalone Sprint Planning menu, which suits planning several sprints at once. The tools described here work the same way in both places.
Navigation
From the top menu of the project, expand Agile Planning, select Backlog Refinement, and then select the Sprint Planning tab.
How to Plan a Sprint
- In the Refinement Backlog, move groomed cards to Ready for Sprint Allocation.
- Open the Sprint Planning tab.
- In the sprint drop-down, select the sprints you want to see, and select APPLY.
- Drag a card from the Ready lane to a sprint lane. The card is now planned in that sprint.
- Check the Capacity and Planned figures of the sprint, so the sprint is not overloaded.
- To take a card out of a sprint, drag it back to the User Story heading of the Ready lane.
When you plan a card, its Backlog Refinement State becomes Planned. When you take it out, the state goes back to Ready.
Select a card to open it and change its details. Cards show their ID, estimate points, and name, and the colour line at the bottom is the colour set for that card type.
Layout of Sprint Planning
Sprint Planning has a toolbar at the top, the Ready for Sprint Allocation lane on the left, and a lane for each sprint next to it.
Toolbar
Sprint drop-down. It lists the current and future sprints, each with a check box. Search for a sprint, tick the ones you want, and select APPLY. All Current and Future Sprints shows all of them.
Card View and Tree View. Card View shows each card with its ID, points, and name. Tree View shows each sprint as a block of rectangles. The size of a rectangle is the story points of the card, so you can compare the size of the work at a glance. In Tree View, the Ready lane is collapsed. Switch back to Card View to plan cards.
Filter. Select the filter icon to open the Filter drawer. Choose a field on the left, such as Backlog Refinement State, Priority, Release, Sprint, Status, or TShirt Size, tick the values on the right, and select APPLY. Select CLEAR to remove the filter.
Zoom. Use the minus and plus controls to make the cards smaller or larger. A smaller zoom lets you see more sprints at once.
Full screen. Select the full screen icon to hide the top bar and left menu and get a bigger view.
More options. The three-dot menu has two items. Release Capacity opens the Sprint Capacity Based On Field window, where you choose whether sprint capacity is measured in Points or in Card Count. View Dependency is a toggle that shows the dependencies between cards.
Ready for Sprint Allocation and Sprint Lanes
Ready for Sprint Allocation holds the cards you moved from the Refinement Backlog. The number in brackets is the card count, and cards are grouped by card type. Use the search icon to find a card, and the arrow to collapse the lane.
Each sprint lane shows the sprint name and its dates, then:
- Capacity, the capacity of the sprint in the unit you chose. In Points, it is the Capacity Points of the sprint.
- Planned, the points or cards planned so far.
- A bar that fills as you plan. It turns red when you plan more than the capacity.
Use the arrow on a lane to collapse it. A collapsed lane shows only the sprint name, so you can fit more sprints on the screen.
Sprint Capacity
Hover over a sprint lane and select the pencil icon to open Capacity Planning. It shows the sprint, release, start and end dates, team, and capacity. It also shows the Worst 3, Best 3, and Last 3 values from the past 12 sprints, so you can decide how much to load. Select MORE OPTIONS to open the sprint itself and change its details.