Capacity Planning

Capacity planning determines how much work a team can realistically commit to in a given period. It prevents overcommitment by accounting for actual available time after holidays, meetings, training, and other non-delivery activities.

Factors affecting team capacity:

• Team size: Number of team members available
• Working days: Accounting for weekends, public holidays, and company shutdowns
• Leave: Annual leave, sick leave, and personal days
• Meetings and ceremonies: Sprint ceremonies, company meetings, one-on-ones
• Support and maintenance: Time allocated to production issues
• Training and development: Learning time and upskilling activities
• Focus factor: Percentage of time actually spent on productive work (typically 60-80%)

Capacity planning approaches:

• Hours-based: Calculate available hours per person per sprint
• Story point-based: Use historical velocity as a guide
• Percentage-based: Estimate percentage of time available for sprint work
• Team-based: Calculate capacity at team level rather than individual level

Best practices:

• Plan capacity before sprint planning, not during
• Use historical data to calibrate estimates
• Account for the focus factor
• Build in buffer for unexpected issues (10-20%)
• Track capacity accuracy over time and adjust
• Consider skill-specific capacity when work requires specialised expertise