Why Future Sprints Should Stay Empty #

In agile development, there’s a strong temptation to organize and plan work for future sprints. But placing stories into future sprints is a common pitfall that often leads to unnecessary pressure, reduced quality, and less flexibility.

In reality, the only sprint that exists is the current one. Everything else should remain in the backlog until it’s time to plan the next sprint. By keeping future sprints empty, teams can maintain agility, respond better to change, and prioritize quality over rigid planning.

The Problem with Pre-Filling Future Sprints #

Let’s say a team begins adding stories to the “next sprint” before the current one is complete. At first, this might seem helpful, as if it’s creating a clear roadmap. But here’s why it’s actually harmful:

Pressure to Complete Prerequisite Stories: When items are already planned for the next sprint, it creates pressure to complete prerequisite work in the current sprint. Team members feel pushed to finish these stories on time so that the next sprint’s work can proceed as planned. This pressure can lead to rushed development, cutting corners, and reduced code quality.
False Certainty: Agile is about adaptability, but pre-planning future sprints gives a false sense of certainty. Requirements often change, new priorities emerge, and what seemed important at the beginning of the sprint may shift. By keeping future sprints empty, teams stay flexible and better equipped to handle changes that inevitably arise.
Reduced Flexibility in Sprint Planning: Pre-filling future sprints restricts the team’s ability to respond to new information or re-evaluate priorities. The team may feel locked into a path that no longer serves the project’s best interests, limiting their ability to deliver the most valuable features.
Stakeholder Misalignment: When stories are placed in future sprints, stakeholders may start expecting specific timelines based on that planning. If priorities change or unforeseen issues arise, it can lead to disappointment, frustration, or a sense that the team isn’t delivering as promised.

The Alternative: Keep Stories in the Backlog Until Sprint Planning #

Instead of pre-planning future sprints, it’s more effective to keep everything in the backlog until the next sprint planning session. Here’s how this approach works:

Siphon from the Top of the Backlog: During sprint planning, simply pull in the highest-priority items from the top of the backlog. This method ensures the team is always working on the most valuable tasks, without prematurely committing to specific future sprints.
Use Velocity to Guide Planning: The team’s velocity gives a rough estimate of how much work they can complete in a sprint. Stakeholders can look at velocity and the prioritized backlog to get a general sense of when certain features might be delivered. If a specific feature is needed sooner, stakeholders can work with the team to reorder the backlog.

Addressing Stakeholder Concerns Without Future Sprint Planning #

Stakeholders often want to know when they can expect a particular feature, and this desire for a timeline can lead to the habit of planning future sprints. Here’s a better approach for managing these expectations:

Backlog Priority Adjustment: If stakeholders want a feature sooner, they can work with the Product Owner to move it higher in the backlog. By reprioritizing, the team can focus on delivering that feature in an upcoming sprint without pre-filling sprints.
Splitting Stories for Incremental Delivery: Sometimes, a large story can be split into smaller, incremental pieces that provide value without waiting for the entire feature to be built. This way, stakeholders can start to see the benefits of a feature earlier, even if it’s not fully complete.
Use Velocity to Estimate (with Caution): Although velocity is not an exact measure, it can give stakeholders a rough idea of when they might see specific features. Rather than locking these features into future sprints, stakeholders can understand that estimates are flexible and that the team is focused on delivering the highest-priority items each sprint.

The Bottom Line: Keep Future Sprints Clear for Greater Agility #

Ultimately, filling future sprints is a habit that can create unnecessary pressure, reduce quality, and limit flexibility. By keeping the backlog as the single source of prioritized work, agile teams can:

Respond more effectively to change.
Protect code quality by avoiding rushed development.
Prioritize work based on current needs, not pre-set plans.

Keeping future sprints empty encourages a more adaptive, value-driven approach to development. When each sprint begins, the team is prepared to take on the work that matters most, and stakeholders can rest assured that their needs are met through continuous re-prioritization. Agile is all about staying flexible, so let the backlog do its job, and keep future sprints open.