Sprint Capacity Planning

Sprint managers often spend significant time assigning users with work items. Sometimes, a user might be over allocated with work items while another user may not be assigned with any items. Verifying the users' existing work items and then assigning new items can be a time-consuming task. When users are under-allocated, their productivity may decrease. When users are over-allocated, their workload increases, leading to burnout and reduced work quality. To overcome this hurdle, Sprint managers can use the Capacity Planning feature. Assigning work based on user capacity helps maintain productivity, improves work quality, and ensures tasks are completed on time.

Capacity Planning in Zoho Sprints helps sprint managers allocate work efficiently by considering users' work hours, leave schedules, previous sprint performance, and existing work items. This ensures that the workload is equally distributed and helps to set realistic sprint goals.

Feature availability: Premier, Enterprise, and Zoho One plans

Benefits

Increased productivity
User burnout prevention
Cost efficiency
Better resource planning
Informed decision making
Set realistic deadlines

Enable Capacity Planning in Zoho Sprints

Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to navigate to the Settings page.
Go to the Feature Preference section under Workspace Settings.
Enable Capacity Planning.

You will now be able to select the method used to calculate capacity.

Methods of Capacity Planning

By Estimation Points: The system refers to the previous sprints and determines the actual estimation points the user can complete in the current sprint.

By Work Hours: The system calculates each user’s available work hours and determines their capacity.

By Work Items: The system refers to the average velocity of the user from the previous sprints and determines the actual capacity of the user for the current sprint.

You can select any of these methods to be your default capacity planning method in the Sprint.

Note: Sprint planning suggestions are available only when past sprint data exists. These suggestions cannot be generated for new projects or projects without sprint history. This note is applicable only to capacity planning based on Estimation points and number of work items.

Formula explained to calculate Capacity Planning

The system uses the below formula to calculate if the work items are over allocated, under allocated or is optimal:

By Estimation Points

For example, if a user has burned 500 points in 64 hours in a sprint, you can calculate the user's velocity as follows:

Velocity = 500 points / 64 hours = 7.81 points/hour (~ 8 points/hour)

If the same user is assigned with an 80 hour sprint whose estimation points is 400, the estimation points that can be allocated for the current sprint can be calculated as follows:

Expected Capacity: 80 hours * 8 points/hour = 640 points

Therefore, for the current sprint the estimation point is 400 which needs to be completed in 80 hours.

i.e, Assigned Work: 400 points in 80 hours

The user is capable of burning 640 points in 80 hours, while the current sprint's estimation point is only 400. This means the user is under-allocated by 240 points.

By Work Item

For example, if a user completed 20 items in 64 hours in a sprint, you can calculate their velocity as follows:

Velocity: 20 items / 64 hours = 0.3 items per hour

If the same user is assigned with 50 items in an 80 hour sprint, you can calculate the user's capacity as follows:

Expected Capacity: 80 hours * 0.3 items/hour = 24 items

The user is allocated with 50 items to be completed within 80 hours. Comparing the earlier sprints, the user can complete only 25 work items within 80 hours. If you assign 50 items that should be completed within 80 hours, the user will be over allocated, which will burnout the user.

Over Allocation: 50 items - 24 items = 26 items

Therefore, the sprint owner can plan to reallocate 26 items to other users to balance the workload.

By Work Hours

For example, if a user takes 2 days' leave during a 10 day sprint, and another user takes leave for a day :

User A: 8 working days (64 hours if 8 hours/day)
User B: 9 working days (72 hours if 8 hours/day)

In a Sprint, if User A is assigned an 80-hour work item while their work hours during that sprint is only 64 hours and if the User B is assigned a 64-hour work item, while their work hours is 72 hours, the user capacity will be:

User A: 80 hours of 64 hours [Over allocated]
User B: 64 hours of 72 hours - [Under allocated]

Based on this, the sprint owner can decide to reallocate tasks to ensure that all users are equally assigned with work items.

Capacity Planning for work items

When the sprint capacity planning method is chosen as 'By Work Items', the work items are equally split among the sprint users and assigned to them. However, when the method is selected as 'By Work Hours', work hours should be set for each user in the sprint and if 'By Estimation Points' is selected, estimation points should be set for the work items.

Set work hours for users

If you would like to assign work items based on work hours, you must set work hours. Work hours can be set at workspace level, project level or even in work items. Learn how to set work hours.

Once the work hours are set, capacity can be calculated based on work hours.

Define estimation points for work items

If you would like to assign work items based on estimation points, set the estimation points for each work item in the sprint. Learn to define estimation points.

Check Sprint Capacity

Navigate to the required project.
Hover over the required sprint and click the More Actions icon.
Click the View Details button.
You'll now land in Sprint details page.
Click the More Tabs icon and select Capacity.
All users of this sprint will be listed along with their capacity details.
Click +Plan Capacity if you want to make changes to the allocation. =

View by

You can view the user’s capacity based on Estimation Points, Work Hours, or Work Items. To view capacity across all categories, select All.

Replan Sprint Capacity

If you would like to plan capacity as per the system suggestions, you can click the Replan button or + Plan Capacity.

On clicking the Replan button, the selected user's work items will be listed in the left tab with the sprint users list in the right tab. Drag and drop the work item from the left tab and drop it over the user to whom you need to reassign the work item.

View users based on their allocation

Switch to the Plan Capacity page.
In the View by section, select the Under Allocated option.
This will list only the users who are under allocated.
In the View by section, select the Over Allocated option.
This will list only the users who are over allocated.
In the View by section, select the Optimal option.
This will list only the users who are rightly assigned.

Compare and choose the best capacity method

Sometimes, you would have the option to select the capacity method for the sprints. In such cases, you can compare and choose the one that suits best for the sprint.

Navigate to the required project.
Hover over the required sprint and click the More Actions icon.
Click the View Details button.
You'll now land in Sprint details page.
Click the More Tabs icon and select Capacity.
All users of this sprint will be listed along with their capacity details.
Select All in the View by dropdown.
This will list all users of the sprint and their capacity based on work hours, estimation points and work items.
Hover over a user and click Replan if required.

Visualize Capacity Planning using Velocity Report

Velocity Chart by Count

Velocity chart by count compares the completed work items with the total number of closed sprints to measure your team's performance regularly.

Measuring the average velocity based on Count

Average velocity of the work items based on the count is calculated using the below formula:

Average velocity = Total work items / Total number of sprints

Velocity Chart by Hours

Velocity chart by count compares the total work items completed with the total number of sprints to predict the progress of the upcoming sprints.

Measuring the average velocity based on Hours