A sprint is a period of time in which an increment of usable product is created. Before a sprint begins, sprint planning must take place. Sprint planning is the time in which a team determines what can be delivered in the sprint, and how the work will be delivered. This planning can be supported with Agile tools, including the team capacity planning tool, the Taskboard, and the sprint burndown chart.
Team Capacity Planning Tool
This tool allows you to set the total number of hours or days your team has per sprint. You can set individual team member capacity, as well as schedule any days off. When an individual’s capacity is set, the capacity bar for that individual appears. Capacity bars give a graphical representation of the time a team member is able to commit to a sprint. They can also offer information about whether someone is at, under, or over capacity.
Taskboard
The Taskboard functions as a progress board for a sprint’s work items. The board is customizable to fit your needs. During a sprint, tasks should be updated often to yield a smoother burndown chart. Consistently updating a task is a good habit to get into so that the Taskboard is always accurate.
Sprint Burndown Chart
A sprint burndown chart is a tool to collect project data and determine team progress throughout the sprint cycle. It also helps mitigate any risk and identify requirement creep. It helps determine if the team completed the work estimated during the sprint planning meeting. The blue area of the chart shows the work actually completed, as well as any task build up. The ideal trend line is a smooth and steady burndown of work. A sprint burndown chart is very helpful, especially as a way to see the velocity history of a project.
This is just a handful of tools that can be used to help with your sprint planning efforts. For more information, or if you need help with your sprint planning, please contact us here at PRAKTIK.