An AI-powered platform for Students and teachers, designed to help you learn faster.

How is sprint capacity calculated?

Sprint capacity = Team Size × Hours/Day × Work Days × Focus Factor. Work Days = Sprint Days − Holidays. The focus factor (typically 70-85%) accounts for meetings, email, and non-sprint work. Convert to story points using historical velocity or an hours-per-story-point ratio.

What is a good focus factor for sprint capacity?

A focus factor of 80% is common for mature teams. New teams or teams with significant support duties may use 70%. Teams with minimal interruptions can reach 85-90%. Never assume 100% — people always have non-sprint work.

Should I use velocity or capacity for sprint planning?

Velocity (historical average of completed story points) is the most reliable predictor. Use capacity as a cross-check — if capacity is significantly lower than velocity (e.g., due to holidays), reduce the commitment. If capacity is higher, don't over-commit — velocity reflects reality.

Back to All Tools

Agile Sprint Capacity & Velocity Predictor

Story point capacity for Scrum teams

Team Size (people)

Hours/Day per Person

Sprint Length (days)

Holidays in Sprint

Historical Velocity (SP) — optional

Focus Factor (%)

Sprint Planning Tips

Always commit to fewer story points than capacity allows — leave a 10-15% buffer for unplanned work and estimation errors. Track actual velocity over 3-4 sprints to establish a reliable baseline. If the team consistently completes more than committed, gradually increase commitments.

The sprint capacity calculator helps Scrum Masters and Agile coaches plan realistic sprint commitments. By factoring in team size, daily hours, sprint length, holidays, and a focus factor, it computes the available story-point capacity for the upcoming sprint. This prevents over-commitment — the most common cause of sprint failure — and ensures the team delivers what it promises.

The Capacity Formula

Sprint Capacity = Team Size × Hours per Day × Work Days × Focus Factor. Work Days = Sprint Days − Holidays. The result gives net available hours, which the calculator converts to story points using either your historical velocity or a default 8 hours per story point. The focus factor is the key variable — it accounts for meetings, email, support tickets, and context switching that reduce productive time.

Choosing the Right Focus Factor

80% is the standard for mature, co-located teams with minimal interruptions.
70% for new teams, teams with significant production support duties, or distributed teams.
85–90% only for teams with dedicated, uninterrupted sprint time (rare in practice).
Never use 100% — it guarantees over-commitment and sprint failure.

Velocity vs Capacity

Velocity (the rolling average of story points completed in recent sprints) is the most reliable predictor of future output. Use capacity as a cross-check: if capacity is lower than velocity (due to holidays, vacations, or team changes), reduce the commitment. If capacity is higher than velocity, do not increase the commitment — velocity reflects the team's actual throughput, including estimation accuracy and unforeseen work.

Sprint Planning Best Practices

Always commit to fewer story points than capacity allows — leave a 10–15% buffer for unplanned work and estimation errors. Track actual velocity over 3–4 sprints to establish a reliable baseline. If the team consistently completes more than committed, gradually increase commitments. If they consistently miss, reduce the commitment and investigate impediments.

Free Skilljet Resource

Preparing for your official certification? Practice with Skilljet's full diagnostic question bank and code reference drawer.

Start Free 15-Question Diagnostic