Tutorial
Plan sprint capacity
Know how much fits into the sprint before it starts: set capacity per person, read the load display, and have absences counted in automatically.
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The most reliable way to blow a sprint is to fill it by feel. Capacity planning replaces the feel with a number per person — and subtracts vacations while it is at it. It belongs to the sprint layer of the Developer plan.
What you need
- The Developer plan — see pricing.
- A planned sprint with assigned cards — see plan and start a sprint.
- For the automatic absence logic: absences maintained in the team planner.
1. Check your plan
Capacity is part of the sprint views. Without the Developer plan there are no sprints, and so no capacity planning.
2. Set capacity per person
A value can live in three places, and they override each other in a fixed order — specific beats general:
- Per sprint and person — "Anna can only do 20 h this sprint" beats everything else.
- Personal default — Anna's usual value when the sprint says nothing.
- Group default — the value for everyone without a personal one.
If none is set, the fourth route applies: weekly schedule minus absences, automatically from the team planner — more on that below.
3. Plan in points or hours
Both units work. What matters is that estimates and capacity speak the same language: points against points, hours against hours. Teams that maintain both see both loads side by side.
4. Split effort across assignees
A card with two assignees need not count its effort twice: split it — 7 hours backend, 1 hour frontend. Each person's load then shows their actual share, not the whole card.
5. Read the load display
While planning, you see per person how full they are. Red means overbooked — before the sprint starts, not in the retro. That is the entire point of the exercise: the "this does not fit" conversation happens on planning day, not on the sprint's second-to-last day.
6. Have absences counted automatically
The quiet classic of over-commitment: two of five are away for a week and nobody had it in mind while planning. If you maintain absences in the team planner, Zuuna subtracts them from hour capacity automatically — nobody has to remember. Two honest limits: it only applies where no manual value is set (deliberate entries are never overridden), and it works in hours only — point capacity cannot be derived from a calendar.
Troubleshooting
- The load stays empty. Unestimated cards do not count. Estimate first — via poker or directly.
- The vacation is not subtracted. Either a manual value is set (it wins), or the absence is missing from the team planner, or you plan in points.
- A person does not appear. They are not assigned to any card in the sprint.
Next steps
- Close a sprint and read the burndown — the check after the sprint.
- Project management for developers.
FAQ
Where do the hours come from if I enter nothing?
From the team planner: the person's weekly working schedule minus recorded absences in the sprint window. This fallback works in hours only — story-point capacity needs an entered value.
Do vacations count automatically?
Yes, provided the absence is in the team planner and you have not set a manual value. A hand-entered value always wins — Zuuna never overrides a deliberate decision.
Does this work with story points?
Planning yes, the absence logic no. Point capacity you enter yourself; only hour capacity can be derived from schedules and absences.
Can I see capacity on a normal board too?
Yes — the capacity view works there as well, not only in a sprint.
Which plan?
The Developer plan. It also includes the team planner the absences come from.