Sprint Planning is one of five events in Scrum. It helps the Scrum Team understand the work to be performed in the Sprint.
Empiricism
Like every event in Scrum, Sprint Planning is all about empiricism. Its purpose is for the team to inspect the Product Backlog and to create the Sprint Backlog. The Sprint Backlog represents the plan to achieve the Spring Goal and to create a potentially releasable Increment of work.
Who attends?
Sprint Planning is attended by the entire Scrum Team – the Product Owner, the Development Team and the Scrum Master. The Development Team may also invite other people to attend to provide technical, domain or business subject matter expertise.
Sprint Planning is time-boxed to a maximum of eight hours for a one-month Sprint. For shorter Sprints, the event is usually shorter. The Scrum Master ensures that the event takes place and that attendants understand its purpose. The Scrum Master teaches the Scrum Team to keep it within the time-box.
What does Sprint Planning involve?
Sprint Planning answers the following:
- What can be delivered in the Increment in the upcoming Sprint?
- How will the work that will deliver the Increment be done?
The Product Owner can help to clarify the selected Product Backlog items and make trade-offs. If the Development Team determines it has too much or too little work, it may renegotiate the selected Product Backlog items with the Product Owner.
By the end of the Sprint Planning, the Development Team should be able to explain to the Product Owner and Scrum Master how it intends to work as a self-organising team to accomplish the Sprint Goal and create the anticipated Increment.
