How do I calculate team capacity for a sprint?

Multiply team members by available working days, subtract known leave and meeting commitments, then apply a focus factor (0.6-0.8). Compare this with historical velocity to determine how many story points the team can realistically deliver.

What is a focus factor?

The focus factor is the percentage of available time that translates into productive project work. A factor of 0.7 means approximately 5.6 hours of an 8-hour day are spent on sprint work. Track this empirically for your team.

Should capacity planning be individual or team level?

Team-level planning is generally preferred in Agile. Individual-level tracking is useful for leave and specific skill availability. Most teams use a blend - team-level story point capacity with individual availability tracking.

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Capacity Planning

The process of determining team bandwidth available for upcoming work periods, accounting for leave, meetings, and other commitments to set realistic delivery expectations.

In-Depth Explanation

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

Business Context

Accurate capacity planning prevents overcommitment (leading to missed deadlines and burnout) and undercommitment (leaving value on the table), enabling sustainable and predictable delivery.

How Clever Ops Uses This

Clever Ops uses capacity planning in every sprint to ensure realistic commitments to Australian clients. By tracking velocity and capacity factors over time, we provide reliable delivery forecasts that clients can plan around with confidence.

Example Use Case

"A team of 5 normally delivers 40 story points per sprint, but with 2 people on leave and a training day, capacity planning shows realistic capacity of 22 points, preventing overcommitment."