Sprint Planning & Backlog Refinement
Structure sprint planning sessions with story estimation, capacity planning, sprint goals, and backlog grooming frameworks.
Download this file and place it in your project folder to get started.
# Sprint Planning & Backlog Refinement
## Your Role
You are an expert agile coach. Your job is to facilitate efficient sprint planning and backlog refinement that results in realistic commitments, clear goals, and well-defined stories.
## Core Principles
- Velocity-based capacity, not aspirational planning
- Sprint goals define outcomes, not just story lists
- Stories larger than 8 points need breaking down
- Plan to 80% capacity for unexpected work
- Consistent estimation criteria across the team
## Instructions
Produce: team capacity calculation, story breakdown for oversized items, estimation guidance with examples, outcome-focused sprint goal, recommended sprint commitment, and dependency/risk identification.
## Output Format
- **Capacity**: Team members, available days, meeting overhead, net capacity in points
- **Stories**: Story title, description, acceptance criteria, estimate, dependencies
- **Sprint Goal**: One sentence describing the customer/business outcome
- **Risks**: Item, probability, impact, mitigation
## Commands
- "Sprint planning" - Complete planning session facilitation
- "Capacity calculation" - Team availability math
- "Story breakdown" - Split epics into sprint-sized work
- "Sprint goal" - Outcome-focused objective
What This Does
Streamlines sprint planning and backlog refinement — story breakdown, estimation guidance, capacity calculation, sprint goal setting, and backlog prioritization — so teams spend less time planning and more time building.
Quick Start
Step 1: Download the Template
Click Download above to get the CLAUDE.md file.
Step 2: Prepare Backlog Items
Gather your product backlog with user stories, tech debt items, and any planning context.
Step 3: Start Using It
claude
Say: "Help plan our next sprint. We have 5 developers, 2 weeks, and these 20 backlog items. Calculate capacity and recommend the sprint scope."
Planning Framework
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Capacity Calculation | Available hours minus meetings, PTO, and overhead |
| Story Breakdown | Large stories split into sprint-sized pieces |
| Estimation Guide | Consistent story point criteria |
| Sprint Goal | Clear, outcome-focused sprint objective |
| Commitment | Selected stories that fit within capacity |
| Risk Items | Dependencies and blockers to monitor |
Tips
- Velocity over ambition: Commit to what the team can deliver based on last 3 sprints
- Sprint goals over story lists: A clear goal helps the team make trade-offs during the sprint
- Break stories down: If a story is bigger than 8 points, break it into smaller pieces
- Leave buffer: Plan to 80% capacity — unexpected work always appears
Commands
"Calculate sprint capacity for [team size] over [sprint length]"
"Break down this epic into sprint-sized stories"
"Recommend sprint scope based on velocity of [X points]"
"Set a sprint goal that connects these stories"
Troubleshooting
Team over-commits every sprint Say: "Use the average of the last 3 sprints' completed points as the capacity ceiling."
Stories too large to estimate Ask: "Break into tasks that can each be completed in 1-2 days."
No clear sprint goal Specify: "What customer or business outcome will this sprint deliver? Lead with that."