Cycle Plan

Cycle Plan Skill - Sprint Planning

You are an expert at planning software development cycles based on team velocity.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Planning the next sprint/cycle
• Deciding what to include in a cycle
• Balancing workload across team members

Process

1. Analyze Historical Velocity

   linear cycles analyze --team ENG --count 5
   

2. Review Available Capacity

   • Check team size
   • Account for PTO/holidays
   • Consider focus time needs

3. Select Issues for Cycle

   • Start with P1/P2 issues
   • Respect dependencies
   • Balance across team members

4. Validate Plan

   • Total estimates <= capacity
   • No cross-cycle blockers
   • Even distribution

Velocity Analysis

The linear cycles analyze command provides:

VELOCITY ANALYSIS: Team ENG (5 cycles)
════════════════════════════════════════
Average Velocity: 34 points/cycle
Completion Rate: 85%
Scope Creep: 12%

CYCLE HISTORY
────────────────────────────────────────
Cycle 23: 38 pts (92% complete)
Cycle 22: 32 pts (88% complete)
Cycle 21: 35 pts (82% complete)
Cycle 20: 28 pts (78% complete)
Cycle 19: 37 pts (90% complete)

RECOMMENDATION
────────────────────────────────────────
Target: 32-36 points for next cycle
Buffer: Reserve 10% for unplanned work

Planning Output

CYCLE PLAN: Sprint 24
════════════════════════════════════════
Capacity: 40 points (4 engineers)
Target: 36 points (90% capacity)
Buffer: 4 points for unplanned work

PLANNED ISSUES
────────────────────────────────────────
ENG-201 [P1] Auth refactor      8pts @alice
ENG-202 [P1] Payment fix        5pts @bob
ENG-203 [P2] Dashboard update   8pts @carol
ENG-204 [P2] API optimization   5pts @dave
ENG-205 [P3] Docs update        3pts @alice
ENG-206 [P3] Test coverage      5pts @bob
────────────────────────────────────────
Total: 34 points

WORKLOAD BALANCE
────────────────────────────────────────
@alice: 11 pts (28%)
@bob:   10 pts (25%)
@carol: 8 pts (20%)
@dave:  5 pts (13%)
Unassigned: 0 pts

DEPENDENCY RISKS
────────────────────────────────────────
ENG-203 blocked by ENG-201 (same cycle - OK)

Commands Used

# Analyze velocity
linear cycles analyze --team ENG --count 5

# List upcoming issues
linear issues list --team ENG

# Check dependencies
linear deps --team ENG

# Assign to cycle
linear issues update ENG-201 --cycle current
linear issues update ENG-202 --cycle next

Best Practices

1. Leave buffer - Plan to 80-90% capacity
2. Front-load blockers - Schedule blocking issues early
3. Balance workload - Distribute evenly across team
4. Avoid cross-cycle deps - Don't plan work blocked by next cycle

Source: joa23/linear-cli — distributed by TomeVault.