Sprint Planning Template

What is the Sprint Planning template?

Conduct different Agile ceremonies on the same digital canvas. Bring your Sprint Backlog items to the board, prioritize them on the high- and low-priority axis, and estimate them using the Planning Poker method or Magic Estimation. Insert action items from the last retrospective session to ensure the workflow during this Sprint will not be disturbed.

Remain on the same whiteboard to conduct daily scrum meetings with your team and stay up-to-date with the progress of the tasks by answering questions like: What did you do yesterday? What are you working on today? What are the blockers/challenges you’re facing?. Use the calendar to mark important events for the team and get back to parked topics or requests for help at the end of the session.

What are the benefits of the Sprint Planning template?

Thanks to the Sprint Planning template, you can:

• Facilitate Agile ceremonies in the same digital space without ever leaving Whiteboards or switching between different tools.
• Stay up-to-date with the current status of the tasks that are on your team members’ radars. 
• Focus on producing and developing solutions that will bring desired outcomes and value.
• Be clear about the objectives and what is expected to be delivered at the end of the sprint.
• Find answers to whether or not to move forward with specific tasks or ideas by conducting collaborative estimation sessions.

How to use the Sprint Planning template in a few steps?

1. Open the Sprint Planning template on a new board or add it to an already existing one.
2. Invite your team to the board by sharing the board URL or sending an email invitation.
3. Join the audio and video chat with your team members to see their faces and talk to each other. Add camera stream cards to the designated frame on the board.
4. Define the Sprint Goal in a few words next. Then, insert the action points you agreed to with the entire team during your last retrospective session.
5. Insert Jira items into the Sprint Backlog frame using the Import Zone. Alternatively, if you’ve already authorized Whiteboards access to view Jira issues on the board, drag and drop tasks from the right sidebar to the designated space. Prioritize the tasks on the high- and low-priority axis.
6. Refine and estimate Jira issues from the backlog with the help of the Planning Poker template or Magic Estimation In Story Points template. Once you reach a consensus on the estimation, move Jira cards to the Estimated frame.
7. Move to the Sprint Timeline section and drag your camera streams to the designated places. Define who will be the Developer On Support and Sprint Gardener and start dropping tasks from Sprint Backlog to the Sprint Planning Timeline. (Remember that one swimlane is allocated to one team member.) 
8. Extend the edges of the tasks to represent how many days individuals will work on them. Different colors of the tasks indicate their status as proposed in the Labels frame. 
9. Indicate that several people work on the same task by adding their photos or avatars next to it. Use the Avatar Creator template to create your personal avatar. 
10. Let other team members know that someone is away by adding appropriate labels to the timeline (On a holiday, Out of office, or At an interview) or GIFs.
11. Add sticky notes to the Parking Lot section whenever a side topic appears. Discuss it at the end of the session with the whole team or just with the person it concerns. Do the same with the I need help section.
12. Use the Annual Calendar template to add the month you need and mark important dates for the team.