What is sprint planning?
Sprint planning is the opening ceremony of the sprint in Scrum methodology. It's the meeting where the entire development team, Product Owner and Scrum Master gather to collectively decide what will be developed during the next sprint — and how.
Sprint planning answers two fundamental questions. First: 'What are we going to deliver?' — the Product Owner presents priority backlog stories and the team selects those it can complete during the sprint (sprint goal). Then: 'How are we going to do it?' — the team breaks stories into technical tasks and self-organizes.
Sprint planning is not a reporting meeting — it's a decision-making meeting. At the end, every team member must know exactly what they're working on for the next days and why it's a priority.
How to properly prepare a sprint planning?
A successful sprint planning is prepared before the meeting. The Product Owner must ensure the top of the backlog is ready — meaning the top 10-15 stories are refined, estimated and have clear acceptance criteria. Without this preparatory work, sprint planning degenerates into a 4-hour clarification session.
Product Owner
- Prioritize backlog by business value
- Refine top backlog stories
- Define the sprint goal
- Prepare acceptance criteria for each story
Dev team
- Check real sprint capacity (vacations, etc.)
- Review priority stories before the meeting
- Prepare clarification questions
- Update velocity from recent sprints
Sprint planning walkthrough step by step
Sprint goal reminder (10 min)
The Product Owner presents the sprint goal in one sentence. The team validates that this goal is aligned with product strategy. This initial framing prevents scope creep during the sprint.
Story presentation (20-30 min)
The PO presents stories in priority order. For each one, they explain the user value and acceptance criteria. The team asks clarification questions — no estimation yet.
Estimation and selection (30-60 min)
The team estimates each story in story points (Planning Poker or T-shirt sizing). By comparing the total points with the average velocity of recent sprints, the team selects stories that fit within the sprint capacity.
Task breakdown (30-60 min)
For each selected story, the team identifies the necessary technical tasks. Each task is estimated in hours and voluntarily assigned. This is where the sprint's 'how' is built.
Validation and commitment (10 min)
The team collectively confirms their commitment to the sprint goal and sprint content. Each developer knows what they start on the next day. The Scrum Master notes identified impediments.
Velocity and capacity: the two pillars of sprint planning
Velocity is the average story points completed by the team over the last 3 to 5 sprints. It's the main indicator for deciding how many stories to select. If your velocity is 30 points and the top backlog stories are 8, 5, 12 and 7 points, you can select the first 3 (25 points) with a comfortable margin.
Capacity formula
Capacity = sprint days × nb devs × availability Ex: 10d × 3 devs × 0.8 = 24 person-days
Don't confuse capacity and velocity. Capacity is available time (person-days). Velocity is historical productivity (story points/sprint). Use velocity to select stories, and capacity to validate that tasks are achievable within available time.
Which tool for your sprint planning?
Jira remains the reference for advanced Scrum teams, but its complexity and price ($7.75/user/month) make it difficult for small teams. monday.com allows simulating sprints with its boards, but without native story points or velocity tracking. Tandimy offers sprint planning, backlog, story points, velocity and Kanban in one integrated tool — accessible from the free plan.
| Tool | Story points | Velocity | Backlog natif | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tandimy ⭐ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Free / €8 |
| Jira | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 7,75 $/user |
| monday.com | ❌ Manual | ❌ | ❌ | 9–22 €/user |
| Trello | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | Free |
Sprint planning + backlog + velocity in Tandimy
Create your first sprint in 5 minutes. Story points, burndown chart and Kanban included.
FAQ
Launch your first sprint today
Backlog, story points, sprint planning and Kanban — everything your Scrum team needs, without Jira's complexity.