Capacity Planning in Agile

Agile software development framework.

Capacity planning is a critical aspect of Agile project management. It involves determining the team's ability to complete work in a given time frame, typically a sprint or iteration. This process helps Agile teams to manage their workload effectively and avoid overcommitting.

Understanding Capacity Planning

In Agile, capacity is the total amount of work that a team can handle during a sprint. It is usually measured in hours or story points. Capacity planning is the process of determining this capacity before the start of each sprint during the sprint planning meeting.

The goal of capacity planning is to ensure that the team does not commit to more work than it can realistically complete. This helps to maintain a sustainable pace of work, reduce stress, and improve the quality of the deliverables.

Calculating Team Capacity

The first step in capacity planning is to calculate the team's capacity. This involves several factors:

1. Team size: The number of team members available to work on the project.
2. Individual capacity: The amount of productive work each team member can do in a day. This is usually less than the total working hours due to meetings, breaks, and other non-project activities.
3. Sprint length: The duration of the sprint, typically in weeks.
4. Availability: The number of days each team member is available during the sprint. This should account for holidays, vacations, and other absences.

The team's capacity is calculated by multiplying these factors together. For example, if a team of five members each has an individual capacity of six hours per day, and the sprint length is two weeks (10 working days), the total capacity for the sprint is 5 members * 6 hours/day * 10 days = 300 hours.

Factors Affecting Team Capacity

Several factors can affect a team's capacity:

• Team member skills and experience: More experienced team members may be able to complete work faster than less experienced ones.
• Complexity of the work: More complex tasks may take longer to complete.
• External dependencies: If the team is dependent on external resources or teams, this can affect their capacity.
• Unplanned work or interruptions: These can reduce the team's capacity.

Using Capacity Planning for Sprint Planning

Once the team's capacity is known, it can be used during the sprint planning meeting to select the right amount of work for the sprint. The team should aim to fill their capacity with user stories from the product backlog, starting with the highest priority ones.

However, it's important not to overfill the sprint. It's better to undercommit and overdeliver than to overcommit and underdeliver. A good rule of thumb is to plan for about 80% of the team's capacity, leaving some buffer for unexpected issues.

In conclusion, capacity planning is a vital tool for Agile teams. It helps to ensure a sustainable pace of work, improve predictability, and increase customer satisfaction by delivering high-quality work on time.