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Free tool Sprint capacity calculator.
Enter your team's usual story points and who is away, and see how many to plan for this sprint.
Sprint length
Focus factor (share of the rest left for sprint work)
Each person's stand-ups, planning, review and retro.
Typical: code review, questions and the odd interruption.
Team and days off
| Name (optional) | Days off | There | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 days | |||
| 10 days | |||
| 10 days | |||
| 10 days |
Holidays, training, on-call and part-time all count as days off.
Enter the story points your team usually completes to see what to plan for.
- Usual velocity
- –
- Raw capacity (days the team is there)
- 40 of 40 person-days (100%)
- Ceremonies (10 h per person)
- 5 person-days
- Effective capacity (after ceremonies and 70% focus)
- 24.5 person-days
How the calculator works
Three steps, all on the page.
Simple enough to check by hand, and to explain to whoever asks why the sprint holds less this time.
Raw capacity
Each person's working days in the sprint, minus their days off, added up: the person-days (or man-days) the team is there for. 4 people in a 2-week sprint have 40.
Effective capacity
Take off the ceremonies (10 hours each in two weeks: 5 of 40 person-days, at 8 hours a day), then keep the focus factor's share of the rest: 70% of 35 is 24.5.
Story points to plan for
Your usual story points were earned with the whole team and the usual meetings, so only who is away scales them: with 80% of the team there, 30 points becomes 24.
Getting it right
A plan that survives the sprint.
Capacity is a forecast, not a promise. A few habits make it closer every sprint.
Count every day away
Holidays, public holidays, training, conferences and on-call weeks. Half a day counts too.
Part-time is days off
Someone on a four-day week has two days off in a two-week sprint; someone shared with another team, their days elsewhere.
Average a few sprints
Take the story points of the last three or four sprints, not the best one, and compare what you planned with what you finished to set the focus factor.
Leave some slack
Plan a little under the target. Bugs, reviews and surprises arrive every sprint, and finishing what was planned builds trust.
Questions
What is sprint capacity?
The amount of work a team can take on in a sprint, given who is there. The calculator gives it three ways: raw capacity (the person-days the team is there), effective capacity (those days after meetings and interruptions) and the story points to plan for.
How do I calculate sprint capacity?
Add up each person's working days in the sprint minus their days off: that is the raw capacity, in person-days (man-days). Five people in a two-week sprint, with four days off between them, have 46 of 50 person-days (92%). Take off the ceremonies (10 hours each, 5.75 person-days for the days they are there) and keep the focus factor's share for the effective capacity: at 70%, 28.2 person-days of sprint work.
What are ceremony hours?
The hours each person spends in the sprint's stand-ups, planning, review and retrospective. The calculator fills in 5 hours a week, the Scrum Guide's longest time boxes, and you can type your own. Someone away for part of the sprint misses that part of them.
What is a focus factor?
The share of the time left after ceremonies that goes to sprint work, after code review, support, questions and interruptions. Most teams sit between 60% and 80%; compare what you planned with what you finished to find yours.
How are the story points to plan for worked out?
Your usual story points per sprint, scaled by how much of the team is there: with 46 of 50 person-days (92%), a team that usually completes 30 points should plan for 28. Ceremonies and the focus factor don't change it, because your usual points were already earned around them.
Should we plan by capacity or by velocity?
Both. Velocity says what the team usually finishes; capacity says how this sprint differs from the usual one. A team with a velocity of 30 and a third of its people on holiday should plan nearer 20.
Is the calculator free? Does it keep what I enter?
It is free, with no sign-up. It runs in your browser: the names and numbers are not sent anywhere, and they are gone when you leave the page.