Sprint Plan Builder

Sprint Plan Builder — Agile Sprint Planning

Helps Scrum Masters and PMs build Sprint plans based on team Capacity and historical Velocity: break down and assign Stories/Tasks, check workload balance, identify dependencies, and produce an actionable Sprint plan.

SOP Overview

Step 1: Gather Inputs → Step 2: Calculate Team Capacity → Step 3: Define Sprint Goal & Scope
    → Step 4: Task Breakdown & Estimation → Step 5: Dependency Analysis → Step 6: Task Assignment & Workload Balancing
    → Step 7: Output Sprint Plan → Step 8: Risk Review & Commitment Check

Step 1: Gather Input Information

Collect the following from the user (proactively ask for any missing items):

Defaults When Information Is Missing

• Sprint Duration not specified → default to 2 weeks (10 working days)
• Availability not specified → default to Sprint Duration × 0.8 (accounting for meetings and overhead)
• Historical Velocity unknown → use 70% of the current total estimate as a conservative target
• Role not specified → treat as a general developer

Step 2: Calculate Team Capacity

2.1 Individual Capacity

Individual Capacity = Available Days × Effective Hours per Day × Focus Factor

2.2 Total Team Capacity

Total Team Capacity (person-hours) = Σ(Individual Capacity of each member)
Total Team Capacity (story points) = Derived from Velocity reference

2.3 Capacity Calculation Example

Step 3: Define Sprint Goal & Scope

3.1 Velocity Reference Calculation

Reference Velocity = Average Velocity over the last N Sprints
Recommended N = 3–5, excluding clear outliers

3.2 Scope Selection Rules

1. Sort the Backlog by priority from highest to lowest
2. Accumulate story points until approaching but not exceeding the reference Velocity
3. If adding the last Story would exceed 110% of Velocity, exclude it
4. Reserve 10–15% buffer for contingencies and technical debt

Step 4: Task Breakdown & Estimation

4.1 Story Breakdown Check

Each Story should satisfy the INVEST criteria:

4.2 Estimation Reference

If the user has not provided estimates, use the following reference table:

Step 5: Dependency Analysis

5.1 Dependency Types

5.2 Dependency Review Process

1. List all prerequisites for each Story
2. Build a dependency graph (represented as a list or matrix)
3. Identify the critical path: find the longest dependency chain
4. Flag risky dependencies:
   • External dependencies (uncontrollable) → mark as High Risk
   • Cross-member dependency chains > 3 → mark as Medium Risk
   • Circular dependencies → must be resolved

5.3 Dependency Matrix Output Format

| Story    | Depends On  | Depended On By | Type     | Risk |
|----------|-------------|----------------|----------|------|
| Story-1  | None        | Story-3        | -        | Low  |
| Story-2  | None        | None           | -        | Low  |
| Story-3  | Story-1     | Story-5        | FS       | Med  |
| Story-4  | External API| Story-5        | External | High |
| Story-5  | Story-3, 4  | None           | FS       | High |

Step 6: Task Assignment & Workload Balancing

6.1 Assignment Principles

1. Skill Match First: Match members' skills to Story technical requirements
2. Dependency Order: Assign depended-upon Stories first to avoid blocking downstream work
3. Workload Balance: Keep each member's load within ±20% of the team average
4. Avoid Single Points of Failure: Critical Stories should not be assigned to only one person

6.2 Workload Balance Calculation

Member Load % = Assigned Story Points / Individual Capacity (SP equivalent) × 100%
Team Average Load % = Total Assigned SP / Total Team Capacity (SP equivalent) × 100%
Load Deviation = |Member Load % - Team Average Load %|

6.3 Workload Balance Checks

6.4 Rebalancing Strategies

When workload is imbalanced, adjust in this priority order:

1. Move lower-priority Stories from overloaded members to underloaded ones
2. Reassign Stories with flexible skill requirements
3. Split large Stories so multiple people can work in parallel
4. Reduce Sprint scope (remove the lowest-priority Stories)

Step 7: Output the Sprint Plan

After completing the steps above, produce output using the following template:

## Sprint Plan: Sprint [Number] ([Start–End Dates])

### Sprint Goal
[One sentence describing the core objective of this Sprint]

### Team Capacity

| Member | Role | Available Days | Capacity (hrs) |
|--------|------|---------------|----------------|

- Total Team Capacity: X person-hours
- Reference Velocity: X story points
- This Sprint: X story points (X% of Velocity)

### Story Assignments

| # | Story | Priority | Points | Owner | Dependencies | Status |
|---|-------|----------|--------|-------|--------------|--------|

### Workload Distribution

| Member | Assigned SP | Load % | Status |
|--------|-------------|--------|--------|

### Dependencies

[Dependency matrix or dependency chain description]

### Critical Path
[List the longest dependency chain and expected completion order]

### Risks & Notes
- [Risk item 1]
- [Risk item 2]
- [Buffer and contingency plans]

Step 8: Risk Review & Commitment Check

Final Checklist

After producing the plan, confirm each item:

• Are total story points within 80–100% of Velocity?
• Is each member's load between 60–90%?
• Is load deviation ≤ 20%?
• Are there any circular dependencies? (Not allowed)
• Are external dependencies flagged with a risk level?
• Is someone assigned to every Story on the critical path?
• Is a 10–15% buffer reserved?
• Are any Story estimates above 13 points? (Should be split)
• Does any single member carry more than 40% of total story points?

Common Issues & Recommendations

Common Pitfalls (Must Check During Planning)

References

• Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning
• Scrum Guide 2020 (scrumguides.org)
• SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) — PI Planning and Sprint Planning methodology
• PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) body of knowledge