Top 10 Sprint Planning Templates for Product Designers

Sprint planning is integral for product designers to structure their work over a specific period, ensuring targets are realistic and aligned with project goals. A Sprint Planning template, especially when designed in Notion, can streamline this process by providing a clear outline for task distribution, priority setting, and tracking progress, thereby making team collaboration more systematic and goal-oriented.

Before diving into creating your Sprint Planning template, consider exploring these featured options to simplify and enhance the process.

What Should Sprint Planning Templates Include?

Choosing the right Sprint Planning template can significantly streamline your project management process. Here are key components to look for in an effective template:

  1. Goal Definition: A clear section for defining sprint goals ensures that the team understands the primary objectives and can align their efforts accordingly.

  2. Task Breakdown: This should include space for listing tasks, assigning them to team members, and estimating durations to promote accountability and time management.

  3. Resource Allocation: An effective template will have a component for tracking resource availability and allocation, crucial for balancing workloads and meeting deadlines.

  4. Risk Assessment: Areas to identify potential risks and their mitigation strategies help in proactive planning and can save a lot of trouble down the line.

With these components, a Sprint Planning template not only organizes work but also enhances team collaboration and efficiency.

What Should Sprint Planning Templates Avoid?

Choosing the right Sprint Planning template is crucial for streamlining your project management process. However, not all components are beneficial. Here are a few elements to steer clear of:

  1. Overly Complex Layouts: Templates with too many sections or intricate designs can confuse rather than clarify. Opt for simplicity to enhance team understanding and efficiency.

  2. Undefined Goals: Avoid templates that do not have a clear section for sprint objectives. Specific goals are essential for directing team efforts and measuring success.

  3. Fixed Time Slots: Steer clear of templates that rigidly define time allocations for tasks. Flexibility is key to accommodating real-time adjustments during the sprint.

Remember, the best templates are those that facilitate clarity, flexibility, and focus, helping your team to achieve its goals efficiently and effectively.

1Roadmap

Use this template to track all of your project work. Organize your projects by epics, sprints, tasks, and bugs. You can view the database different ways to see projects by status, engineer, or product manager.

Save time by using the templates made for each type of task, where you can add more as needed, as well as custom properties to track important information.

A template preview for Roadmap

2Issue Tracker

Track engineering projects of any shape or size with this template. For teams that use the Agile method, you can break down each project into tasks, prioritize your backlog, then organize tasks into sprints. Filter by status, priority, and team to view your work any way you like. Plus, connect your other essential tools like Github, Figma, Slack, and more to truly keep all your work in one place.

A template preview for Issue Tracker

3Small Design Agency Task Management

This template helps to organise incoming work from the client account management teams into a creative design team at a small design agency. Often there are competing creative deadlines across account management teams which can lead to miss management of task priorities. On this template both the management team and creative team have their own workspace which is connected together, providing a way to manage creative tasks.

A template preview for Small Design Agency Task Management

4Notion Engineering Dashboard

The Notion Engineering Dashboard is an easy-to-use workspace for you to track your tasks, stories, epics, sprints, and meetings. With this Notion setup you can cut out clutter and focus on your highest priority tasks, without losing track of important details.

A template preview for Notion Engineering Dashboard

5Product Backlog w/ DoR and DoD

Get started with your project with this straight-forward Product Backlog template with pre-defined Definition of Ready and Definition of Done. Your project doesn't have to be a software or something complex in order to use this. It can fit to any application or use case, whether for personal or business purposes. You will be guided what data to populate in Epic, PBI, User Story, Acceptance Criteria, etc., based on the samples provided.

A template preview for Product Backlog w/ DoR and DoD

6Sprint Planning Meeting

Our Sprint Planning Meetings template is a time-efficient tool designed to streamline your sprint planning. With a single click, you can generate a new sprint meeting entry marked with today's date. The template includes structured sections for reviewing the last sprint, planning the upcoming sprint, and fostering discussion. You can also conveniently link to the associated sprint. This organized and simple text-based approach keeps your sprint planning focused and effective.

A template preview for Sprint Planning Meeting

7Action Plan

The Action Plan Template helps you to create action plans easily.

By creating an action plan you’ll able to gain a clear understanding of your short-term objectives are.

By creating an action plan you’ll be able to streamline your efforts and stay focused on what truly matters.

A template preview for Action Plan

8Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

It helps to create an work flow in IT departments

A template preview for Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

9Weekly Sprints

Are you someone who wants to plan out your week ahead? Or someone who wants to track their weekly habits?

Here's a simple to use weekly planner, where you can set your goals for the week in one of the 4 categories: Personal, Professional, Health and Social. Add your TODOs for the week in those columns or track your habits.

You can easily add a new week with the button and take a look at your older weeks' progress in the History section as well. Personalise it as you like and make it work for you.

A template preview for Weekly Sprints

10Definition of Ready Checklist

The Definition of Ready (DoR) is a crucial concept in agile development that outlines the criteria a user story must meet before it can be implemented. This checklist will provide teams with a comprehensive framework for effectively defining the DoR and by following it, teams can ensure that user stories are well-prepared, reducing ambiguity and improving efficiency.

A template preview for Definition of Ready Checklist

Closing Thoughts

Utilizing these templates streamlines the sprint planning process, ensuring that all critical elements are addressed efficiently. This leads to more focused and productive sessions.

By adopting these templates, teams can significantly reduce the time spent on planning. This extra time can then be redirected towards more creative and innovative aspects of product design.

Start implementing these templates in your next project to witness a noticeable improvement in team collaboration and project outcomes. Embrace the change and watch your productivity soar.

What is a Velocity?

Velocity is a metric that predicts how much work a team can complete in a single sprint based on historical performance.

What is a Sprint Backlog?

The Sprint Backlog is a list of tasks identified by the Scrum team to be completed during the Sprint.

What is a Burndown Chart?

A Burndown Chart is a visual measurement tool that shows the completed work per day against the projected rate of completion for the current sprint.

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