Sprint planning 101
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Sprint planning 101
Learn how to plan sprints in Jira Cloud like a pro with these sprint planning tips for Product Managers, and learn how Enhanced Search can help.
What is Sprint planning?
Sprint planning is the cornerstone of agile methodology. Whether your sprint is a two week dash or a four week relay race – and for teams working scrum, kanban, or a bit of both – the sprint planning session is crucial for setting you and your team up for success.
As a product manager, your role in sprint planning centres around the backlog. You are responsible for prioritising the tasks waiting in the queue. To do this, you should remain aware of:
- Any upcoming deadlines
- The urgency and importance of each task
- The impact on the business and your customers
Once you have prioritised the backlog, you can then communicate the business value and customer need behind each item to the wider team.
The success of a sprint lives or dies on how well you run your sprint planning meeting. Each team member should decide on their own priorities, set clear goals and identify and address any potential roadblocks. By the end of the sprint planning meeting, resources should be allocated effectively and the team should be aligned on their individual and collective objectives.
Backlog looking a little unruly?
Learn how Enhanced Search can help you keep on top of your backlog.
Four elements of Sprint Planning (and where enhanced JQL can help!)
1. Communication is key
For a successful and productive sprint planning session, invite the entire team. Involving each member of the team in their own planning leads to:
- A greater sense of agency and ownership
- A deeper understanding of why they are being allocated certain tasks
Remember to give them the opportunity to voice their opinions, laying down the foundations needed for your team to give you their full backing.
How Enhanced Search can help
Jira issues with recent discussions often indicate an active collaboration or a potential challenge. You can therefore monitor active discussions to identify any would-be roadblocks before they disrupt the sprint.
Use this query to identify issues that you have recently commented on, so you can observe active discussions and reduce the risk of mid-sprint surprises.
lastCommentedDate > startOfMonth() AND lastCommentBy = currentUser() 2. Review past sprints
Before looking forward, we must first look back. You should ask yourself these questions:
- How did your last sprint go?
- Were there any blockers, and how did you deal with them?
- What went well?
- What could have gone better?
Learning from past experiences is the best way to stop these issues from cropping up again and is key to running more effective sprints in the future.
Perhaps a retro, or your own analysis, reveals that bug dependencies are your main downfall, and you can plan to rectify this in your next sprint.
How Enhanced Search can help
Dependencies and blockers are the fastest way to derail your sprint. As a Product Manager, you need to stay on top of challenges as they crop up so you can re-allocate resources to clear the roadblocks and get your sprint back on track.
Use this query to identify issues linked to open bugs so you can tackle blockers and dependencies head-on rather than after they've already derailed your sprint.
issueFunction in linkedIssuesOf("issuetype = Bug AND status = Open")3. Set clear objectives
Take some time to think about your overall sprint strategy:
- What do you want to achieve?
- What are your objectives for the sprint?
Defining your objectives for the sprint first means the priority tasks will be better aligned to your overall product strategy. While focusing on short-term wins can be tempting, each new sprint is the ideal opportunity to take a step back and realign your sprint goals to your product strategy.
How Enhanced Search can help
Not all tasks are created equal. Some items in your backlog are quick fixes that need the attention of just one developer. However, some items have ten subtasks and complex dependencies, involving people from different teams with different ways of working.
When planning your priorities, think carefully about the time required to complete the task, and remember that being blocked, handing over to different teams, and untangling dependencies all add to the overall time to complete the task.
Use this query to identify tricky tasks with lots of comments, subtasks and attachments so they can be prioritised accordingly.
numberOfComments > 5 AND numberOfAttachments > 3 AND issuetype = Task AND numberOfSubtasks > 104. Add some buffer time
Allocating story points to each task is an essential step towards understanding how many tasks your team can complete in the sprint, but here are some things to look out for:
- Estimations that are too low
- Overestimating team capacity
If these figures are majorly off, you will end up allocating more tasks than the team can tackle. This can impact on:
- Timelines, thanks to missed deadlines
- Urgent or important tasks getting overlooked for lower-priority tasks
- Don’t overpromise and underdeliver: allow enough time to not only get the job done, but to do it well!
Having said that, the unexpected is inevitable. Delays will crop up no matter how perfectly you calculate your tasks' story points. The trick is to add some buffer time to each task. This gives your team a bit of leeway to address challenges or delve deeper into tasks with significant attachments.
How Enhanced Search can help
Knowing where delays are likely to crop up means you can prepare for them by building in additional time. For example, tasks involving additional stakeholders are very likely to send you off course as you are at the mercy of each individual's to-do lists and processes. Ensure these tasks are given priority so you can give them as much time as possible.
Use this query to identify tasks related to design or documentation to glean insights from attachments. Attachments can provide context, and understanding these can help you involve the right stakeholders as early as possible.
attachmentType in ('png', 'jpg', 'docx', 'pdf')Plan today for a better sprint tomorrow
Sprint planning is so much more than just a simple task-allocation exercise. Done right, it can be a strategic phase that sets the tone for a successful sprint. And with Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud, you'll be better equipped than ever to achieve a supercharged sprint.
Try Enhanced Search for free
Get your sprint planning back on track with Enhanced Search.
Published on 23 July 2025
Authors
Reece Smith
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