What is Sprint Planning?

John Spacey, updated on January 15, 2023

Sprint planning is a timeboxed meeting that scrum teams use to plan a sprint. The primary purpose of the meeting to identify product backlog items to implement in the next sprint. In other words, sprint planning moves items from the product backlog to the sprint backlog.

The product owner plays a key role in sprint planning and represents the sponsoring business unit. It is unusual for anyone outside the scrum team to attend.

The prioritized product backlog is reviewed with the team. In many cases, items require clarification by the product owner. In general, the product owner should come to the meeting prepared to fully explain about two sprints worth of items. Items in the product backlog include user stories, non-functional requirements and spike activities such as knowledge acquisition, research and prototypes.

In addition to a sprint backlog, the meeting also produces a goal for the sprint. This is usually a short statement that summarizes what the sprint will achieve. The process of sprint planning also produces estimates such as story points for items at the top of the product backlog.

Overview: Sprint Planning
Type	Scrum
Definition	A meeting to plan the next sprint by refining priority backlog items, developing estimates, selecting the sprint backlog and a goal for the sprint.
Related Concepts	Product Backlog Backlog Refinement User Story Story Points Sprint Agile