Plan sprints with realistic capacity

Plan sprint by estimating capacity and sequencing stories

Realistic sprint planning when capacity constraints are tight and dependency clarity matters to avoid mid-sprint surprises.

• · team roster with availability (PTO, meetings, on-call)
• · historical velocity (last 3 sprints in story points)
• · prioritized backlog with stories
• · each story: title, points, Definition of Ready status
• · external dependencies (which teams/systems)

• · team capacity calculation: available points = (velocity × availability %) - 15–20% buffer
• · selected story list: [Title] — [points] — [owner] — [dependencies]
• · dependency map: critical path, sequencing notes
• · risk identification: [Risk] → [Mitigation]
• · sprint plan markdown: goal, duration, capacity, committed points, story list, risks

• · Team roster with member count and availability
• · Historical velocity from last 3 sprints
• · Backlog prioritized and refined (stories meet Definition of Ready)

• · Capacity calculation omits buffer (15–20% reserved for bugs/unknowns)
• · Stories not sequenced by dependency (blockers appear mid-sprint)
• · Risk mitigation missing (high-complexity stories unmarked)
• · Sprint goal is vague ('do stuff') instead of one clear value statement
• · External dependencies not identified (surprises appear on day 2)
• · Knowledge concentration unmarked (only one person can do it)
• · Story points not understood by team (estimation is random)

• · Capacity formula: available points = (velocity × availability %) - 15–20% buffer
• · Dependency mapping with critical path
• · Five-element story format: [Title] — [points] — [owner] — [dependencies]
• · Three risk categories: high uncertainty, external dependency, knowledge concentration
• · Sprint goal as single sentence (not feature list)
• · Definition of Ready gate (stories must meet criteria before commit)