Free Sprint Planning Template

Sprint planning helps Agile teams set priorities and figure out which team members can handle specific projects. Without a clear way to track tasks and team capacity, it can be tough to know if you're assigning the right amount of work at the right time.

That's where this sprint planning template can help. It provides the structure you need to effectively manage Agile projects and ensure your team is focusing on tasks that matter. In this article, you'll learn what a sprint planning template is, what to include in yours, and how to use it to keep your sprints on track.

What is a sprint planning template?

A sprint planning template is a reusable tool that helps Agile teams organize, prioritize, and track their work throughout a sprint. It gives your team one place to manage task assignments, capacity, and deadlines from start to finish.

This template isn't a set-and-forget-it tool. Instead, use our template throughout your sprint, from your initial sprint planning meeting to your final retrospective. That means your planning process is directly connected to your team's work, and everyone can reference a single system of record to see what's on deck, what's in progress, and what's been completed.

What is a sprint?

A sprint is a set period during which a team works toward specific goals. Sprints usually last two weeks and are a key part of Agile project management, often used by product, engineering, or software teams. Working in sprints lets teams improve their processes by reviewing what they learned and applying it to the next sprint.

What to include in a sprint planning template

A good sprint planning template should include these key parts:

• Sprint goal. Set a clear goal that explains what the team wants to achieve during the sprint. A strong goal helps everyone stay focused on the most important work.

• User stories or tasks. List the specific items pulled from the product backlog. Each item should be well-defined and ready for the team to work on.

• Story points or effort estimates. Give each task an effort estimate so you can see how much work your team can handle during the sprint.

• Task owners. Assign each task to a team member so everyone knows their responsibilities and nothing gets missed.

• Start and end dates. Set the sprint timeframe and add deadlines to each task so the team can manage their work and stay on track.

• Task status. Keep track of each item's status, such as backlog, in progress, in review, or completed.

• Dependencies and blockers. Spot anything that might slow your team down so you can fix issues before they turn into bigger problems.

• Acceptance criteria. Clearly define what "done" means for each task so your team knows when the work meets the standard and is ready for review.

What are the benefits of a digital sprint planning template?

A digital sprint planning template gives your team one place to track backlog items, assign tasks, adjust deadlines, and share updates with stakeholders during the sprint. With everything in one system, you can avoid duplicate work and keep everyone on the same page.

With our digital sprint planning template, you can:

• See a bird's-eye view of all your team's tasks, including the status of each deliverable.

• Track deliverables through each stage of work: backlog, prioritized, in progress, developing, and completed.

• Use template tasks to standardize backlog items and ensure stakeholders provide the right information to your team.

• Visualize your sprint in different ways, as a standard list, Kanban board, timeline, or calendar.

• Use color-coded custom tags to track key information like task priority, product stage, and story points.

• Attach relevant Google Docs, images, videos, and other files to tasks.

• Communicate directly with your team and stakeholders where work happens.

How to use our sprint planning template

Every team does sprint planning a little differently. That's why this template is customizable, so you can make it fit your team's needs. As you start sprint planning, here are some best practices to remember:

• Keep your sprint structured. Just having a list of to-dos doesn't tell you whether your sprint is on track. Use our sprint planning template in the Asana Boards view to display your sprint project as a Kanban board. Group tasks by work stage in corresponding columns, then drag and drop tasks to a new column as they enter a new stage.

• Add a clear owner and deadline to each task. Sprint capacity planning is about determining who on the team can take on specific work within a given timeframe. To create the best sprint schedule, give each task an assignee and a deadline to make responsibilities clear. When possible, clarify your sprint goal in the task or project as well.

• Make important details easy to find. Track all the details for each task using custom fields, such as task priority and story points. This helps your team focus on top priorities and avoid taking on too much at once.

• Provide regular updates. Your Agile sprint plan in Asana helps every meeting, from kickoff to stand up to sprint review and sprint retrospective, run smoothly because everybody can find their work and quickly give a recap without searching around or forgetting something.

Integrated features

• Board View. Display your sprint as a Kanban board with columns organized by work status (like To Do, Doing, and Done). Tasks appear as cards with key details like due dates and custom fields, giving you at-a-glance insight into your sprint's progress.

• Custom fields. Tag, sort, and filter tasks by any information you need to track, from priority and status to story points. Share custom fields across projects to keep your team consistent.

• Reporting. Turn project data into visual charts and graphs without leaving Asana. Pull data from any project or team to get an accurate picture of sprint progress in one place.

• Inbox. Get real-time updates on project and task changes so you're always up to date. Coordinate work, comment on tasks, and view project updates, all in one place.

Recommended apps

• Jira. Create interactive, connected workflows between technical and business teams to increase real-time visibility into the product development process, all without leaving Asana. Quickly create Jira issues directly in Asana, so work flows seamlessly between business and technical teams at the right time.

• GitHub. Automatically sync GitHub pull request status updates to Asana tasks. Track pull request progress and improve cross-functional collaboration between technical and non-technical teams, all from within Asana.

• Zoom. Prepare for meetings with shared agendas in Asana, create tasks directly within Zoom, and automatically pull transcripts and recordings back into Asana. Keep every action item and decision connected to your sprint work.

• Slack. Turn ideas, work requests, and action items from Slack into Asana tasks and comments that are trackable. Go from quick questions and action items to tasks with assignees and due dates.

Sprint fundamentals you can plan with Asana

Our sprint planning template works for your Agile team at any sprint stage and with any methodology.

• Agile sprint planning: Prioritize backlog items and set sprint goals

• Scrum sprint planning: Run structured planning meetings

• Sprint scheduling: Assign deadlines and balance capacity

• Sprint backlog grooming: Review and refine items before each sprint

• Product backlog grooming: Keep the backlog organized and prioritized

• Scrum capacity planning: Track bandwidth and avoid overcommitment

• Sprint review: Share work and gather feedback

• Sprint retrospective: Capture learnings and improve next sprint

Plan your next sprint with Asana

A good sprint planning template does more than organize tasks. It gives your team a shared system that connects planning to execution, so everyone knows what to work on, when it's due, and how it fits into the bigger picture.

Whether you're running your first sprint or refining an established process, Asana gives you the flexibility to customize your workflow, track progress in real time, and keep your team aligned from kickoff to retrospective. Get started and see how Asana can help your team plan and deliver better sprints.

Frequently asked questions about sprint planning