Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition

by Adkins Lyssa

Sprint Planning Structure Create a flip chart with these words, and let that be the structure the team uses to guide themselves through sprint planning: Sprint planning is done when we can answer these questions: • If the goal of this sprint were a newspaper headline, what would it be? • What is the team composition for this sprint? • What is the total team capacity for this sprint? • What are the highest business value product backlog items? • What are the concerns (technical, political, cultural) about these product backlog items? • What other concerns does the team have? • Given all this, what are the stories, conditions of satisfaction, tasks, and estimates for the items that will form the sprint backlog? • Given all this, is there any change to the stories or conditions of satisfaction for this sprint? Do items need to move from the sprint backlog back to the product backlog? • What is the team’s final commitment for this sprint? (Adapted from Tabaka 2006.) Sprint planning is done when we have achieved these purposes. Did we get these things from it? • Know the work—understand it, choose it, task it, volunteer for it. • Get a fresh start. • Commit to shared goals. • Create focus and abundance.