Sprint planning shouldn’t feel like creative writing.

But for a lot of teams, that’s exactly what estimation turns into:

• Padded numbers

• Vague stories

• Overcommit, underdeliver, repeat

It’s not that teams don’t care.

It’s that the estimation process is broken.

If you’re trying to give stakeholders real timelines and give your team room to breathe, here’s what actually works:

• Start with real capacity (not theoretical 40-hour weeks)

• Apply a focus factor (interruptions are real)

• Use velocity data from past sprints that’s your actual delivery speed

• Break stories into real, estimable tasks

• Choose estimation techniques that fit your team, not just the textbook

• Translate story points into hours when needed stakeholders speak calendar, not Fibonacci.

This isn’t about making every forecast perfect.

It’s about getting close enough to build trust and stop sprint planning from becoming guesswork.

➡️Read our full article on this here: https://www.rallybetter.com/blog/how-to-provide-valid-time-estimates-during-sprint-planning/?utm_source=dev_to&utm_medium=rally_social

Includes: capacity formulas, estimation breakdowns, and how to use Rally to make this all a lot easier.