Team Capacity Planning | Realistic Sprints
Calculate sprint capacity using focus factors (60-80%), leave, and meeting time. GitScrum tracks availability, workload distribution, and historical velocity.
8 min read
Overcommitment leads to burnout and missed deadlines. GitScrum helps teams plan capacity realistically and maintain sustainable delivery.
Capacity Fundamentals
Calculating Capacity
CAPACITY CALCULATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ FORMULA: │
│ │
│ Available hours │
│ - Meetings │
│ - Planned leave │
│ - Training/onboarding │
│ × Focus factor (60-80%) │
│ = Productive capacity │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ EXAMPLE (2-week sprint, 5 developers): │
│ │
│ Person Days Meetings Leave Available │
│ ──────── ──── ──────── ───── ───────── │
│ Alex 10 1.5 days 0 8.5 days │
│ Sam 10 1.5 days 2 6.5 days │
│ Jordan 10 1.5 days 0 8.5 days │
│ Taylor 10 2 days 0 8 days (lead) │
│ Casey 10 1.5 days 1 7.5 days │
│ ──────────────────────────────────────── │
│ TOTAL 39 days │
│ │
│ Apply focus factor (70%): │
│ 39 × 0.70 = 27.3 productive days │
│ │
│ In story points (if 1 point ≈ 1 day): │
│ Sprint capacity: ~27 points │
│ │
│ Reserve 15% for unplanned: │
│ Planned work: ~23 points │
│ Buffer: ~4 points │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Focus Factor
UNDERSTANDING FOCUS FACTOR:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WHERE TIME GOES (typical day): │
│ │
│ 8 hours total │
│ ├── Meetings: 1.5 hours │
│ ├── Email/Slack: 1 hour │
│ ├── Code review: 0.5 hours │
│ ├── Context switching: 0.5 hours │
│ ├── Breaks: 0.5 hours │
│ └── Focused work: 4 hours │
│ │
│ Focus factor: 4/8 = 50% │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ TYPICAL FOCUS FACTORS: │
│ │
│ 80%: Very few meetings, minimal interruptions │
│ (rare, maybe during focused sprints) │
│ │
│ 70%: Normal development work │
│ (reasonable default) │
│ │
│ 60%: Higher meeting load, support duties │
│ (typical for leads) │
│ │
│ 50%: Heavy support, many meetings │
│ (on-call, management) │
│ │
│ CALIBRATE OVER TIME: │
│ Track actual vs estimated │
│ Adjust factor based on reality │
│ Different roles may have different factors │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sprint Planning
Capacity-Based Planning
SPRINT PLANNING WITH CAPACITY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ BEFORE SPRINT PLANNING: │
│ │
│ 1. CALCULATE AVAILABILITY │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ Sprint 12 Capacity ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Alex: 10 days - vacation Mon-Tue = 8 days ││
│ │ Sam: 10 days - 1 day training = 9 days ││
│ │ Jordan: 10 days - doctor appt Wed = 9.5 days ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Raw capacity: 26.5 days ││
│ │ With focus factor (70%): 18.5 days ││
│ │ With buffer (15%): ~16 days available ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ 2. COMPARE TO VELOCITY │
│ Historical average: 18 points │
│ This sprint capacity: Lower than normal │
│ → Plan for ~14-15 points │
│ │
│ 3. SELECT WORK │
│ Top priority items that fit capacity │
│ Don't overcommit "just in case" │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ COMMON MISTAKES: │
│ │
│ ❌ "We'll work harder this sprint" │
│ ❌ "Let's commit to 25 points, we can do it" │
│ ❌ Ignoring known absences │
│ ❌ Planning at 100% capacity │
│ │
│ ✅ "Capacity is lower, let's plan accordingly" │
│ ✅ "We can pull in more if we finish early" │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Handling Variability
Unplanned Work
BUFFER FOR UNPLANNED WORK:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ TYPES OF UNPLANNED WORK: │
│ │
│ • Production bugs │
│ • Support escalations │
│ • Urgent stakeholder requests │
│ • Technical emergencies │
│ • Underestimated complexity │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ BUFFER STRATEGIES: │
│ │
│ PERCENTAGE BUFFER: │
│ Reserve 15-20% of capacity │
│ If capacity = 20 points, plan 16-17 points │
│ │
│ EXPLICIT BUFFER TASK: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ SPRINT-BUFFER: Unplanned work buffer ││
│ │ Points: 3 ││
│ │ ││
│ │ For: Bugs, support, urgent requests ││
│ │ If unused: Pull next priority item ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ TRACK AND CALIBRATE: │
│ │
│ Sprint 10: 4 points unplanned │
│ Sprint 11: 2 points unplanned │
│ Sprint 12: 5 points unplanned │
│ Average: 3.7 points → Buffer ~4 points │
│ │
│ If unplanned consistently high: │
│ → Address root causes (quality, tech debt) │
│ → Or adjust buffer permanently │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Individual Capacity
INDIVIDUAL VARIATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ROLE-BASED CAPACITY: │
│ │
│ SENIOR DEVELOPER: │
│ Focus factor: 60% │
│ (Code review, mentoring, meetings) │
│ │
│ MID-LEVEL DEVELOPER: │
│ Focus factor: 75% │
│ (Fewer meetings, more focused work) │
│ │
│ TECH LEAD: │
│ Focus factor: 50% │
│ (Architecture, planning, coordination) │
│ │
│ NEW TEAM MEMBER: │
│ First month: 30% (onboarding, learning) │
│ Month 2-3: 50% (still ramping) │
│ Month 4+: 70% (normal productivity) │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ CAPACITY TASK: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ Sprint capacity calculation ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Alex (senior): 10 days × 60% = 6 days ││
│ │ Sam (mid): 10 days × 75% = 7.5 days ││
│ │ Jordan (new): 10 days × 40% = 4 days ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Total: 17.5 days productive capacity ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sustainable Pace
Avoiding Burnout
SUSTAINABLE CAPACITY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ WARNING SIGNS: │
│ │
│ ⚠️ Team consistently working overtime │
│ ⚠️ Velocity decreasing over time │
│ ⚠️ Quality issues increasing │
│ ⚠️ Team morale dropping │
│ ⚠️ Commitments always missed │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES: │
│ │
│ PLAN AT 80%: │
│ Never plan at 100% capacity │
│ Leave room for the unexpected │
│ │
│ RESPECT HOURS: │
│ 40-hour weeks as the norm │
│ Overtime is exception, not expectation │
│ │
│ PROTECT FOCUS TIME: │
│ Meeting-free days or blocks │
│ Reduce context switching │
│ │
│ RECOVERY SPRINTS: │
│ After intense periods, plan lighter │
│ Include tech debt and maintenance │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ IF BEHIND SCHEDULE: │
│ │
│ ❌ "Everyone work weekends" │
│ ✅ "Let's re-prioritize scope" │
│ ✅ "What can we defer?" │
│ ✅ "Do we need more time or fewer features?" │
│ │
│ Crunch creates technical debt and burns out team │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Tracking and Improving
Capacity Retrospective
CAPACITY REVIEW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ SPRINT RETROSPECTIVE - CAPACITY: │
│ │
│ QUESTIONS TO ASK: │
│ │
│ • Did we commit to the right amount? │
│ • How much unplanned work appeared? │
│ • Were estimates accurate? │
│ • Did anyone work overtime? │
│ • What affected our capacity? │
│ │
│ ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │
│ │
│ CAPACITY ANALYSIS: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ Sprint 12 Review ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Planned: 18 points ││
│ │ Completed: 15 points ││
│ │ Unplanned: 4 points ││
│ │ Total work: 19 points ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Analysis: ││
│ │ We completed more work than planned velocity, ││
│ │ but unplanned work displaced planned features. ││
│ │ ││
│ │ Action items: ││
│ │ • Increase buffer to 20% (was 15%) ││
│ │ • Investigate source of unplanned work ││
│ │ • Consider dedicated support rotation ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ OVER TIME: │
│ Track patterns │
│ Adjust focus factors │
│ Refine buffer sizes │
│ Improve predictability │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘