Free Sprint Planner: Sprint Planning Sheet with Team Capacity, Sprint Burndown Tracker, and a Sprint Retrospective (PDF, Word, Excel)

What is on the page

Sprint goal

One sentence on what the sprint will achieve. When choices have to be made mid-sprint, the goal decides.

Capacity

Each person's available days in the sprint (after holidays and other work) times realistic focus hours per day. Excel works out the hours.

Story points and velocity

A relative estimate of size for each item, and the average points the team finished in recent sprints. Excel compares the commitment with velocity.

Burndown

Points remaining each day: the ideal straight line from the commitment to zero, and the actual line from the points finished.

Retrospective actions

One to three specific changes for the next sprint, each with an owner, checked at the next retrospective.

Planning a sprint

Start with the goal: what will be true at the end of the sprint that isn't true now. Then work out capacity honestly. Take each person's working days in the sprint, subtract holidays and other commitments, and multiply by focus hours, usually five or six a day for a full-time person, less for those with meetings or other duties. Then pull items from the top of the backlog, in priority order, till the total points match the team's recent velocity. In the sample, the team commits 33 points against a velocity of 34, and 69 estimated hours against 138 hours of capacity, which looks safe, but the retrospective shows the photo work was the real constraint. Most teams do better committing to around 80% of velocity.

Using the burndown

The burndown shows each day how many points are left. Write the committed points at the start, the ideal line falling evenly to zero on the last day, and each day's finished points; Excel works out the actual remaining. A flat actual line for two or three days means work is stuck. Look at what is blocked and talk about it at the stand-up. Remember that points only count when an item is fully done; a sprint where everything is 80% finished burns down nothing.

A useful retrospective

Hold the retrospective on the last day of the sprint, keep it to 30 to 45 minutes, and keep it safe: the aim is to improve the process, not to blame people. Give everyone a few minutes to write their own notes in the three columns, then share and group them. Choose one to three actions only, each specific, with an owner and a date, and start the next retrospective by checking whether they happened. Track them on the action item tracker if they span several sprints.

Sprints for non-software teams

Sprints aren't just for software. Marketing teams, agencies, operations and small business owners use one- or two-week sprints to focus on a few goals, show progress and adjust often. Keep the same structure: a goal, a committed list sized to capacity, a daily check of progress and a short look back. A kanban board works well as the sprint board.

Editing the files

The PDFs are fillable. Excel calculates capacity hours, committed points and hours, the commitment as a share of velocity and capacity, and the actual remaining points each day of the burndown. Insert a line chart from the burndown columns in Excel to draw it automatically.

Questions

What is sprint planning?

A meeting at the start of a sprint where the team agrees the sprint goal and selects the backlog items it can complete within its capacity.

How do I calculate sprint capacity?

For each person, available days in the sprint times realistic focus hours per day, then add them up. Many teams also compare story points with their average velocity.

What is velocity?

The average number of story points a team completes per sprint, usually over the last three sprints.

What is a burndown chart?

A chart of work remaining (in points or hours) for each day of the sprint, compared with an ideal straight line to zero.

What are the three retrospective questions?

What went well, what didn't go well, and what we will try differently next sprint.