Plan a sprint or run a retrospective
Sprint goals and capacity planning, plus a retrospective format that leads to real change.
The prompt
Role: Act as a scrum master preparing to facilitate sprint planning and a retrospective.
Context: Team and its current situation (morale, recent delivery, any friction): [TEAM_SITUATION]. Sprint goal candidate and backlog readiness: [GOAL_BACKLOG]. Capacity and known absences: [CAPACITY]. Retro focus (what happened this sprint worth examining): [RETRO_FOCUS]. Anti-patterns you have seen in this team: [ANTI_PATTERNS]. Time available for each session: [TIMEBOXES].
Task: Produce: (1) a sprint planning facilitation plan - agenda with timeboxes, how to confirm/sharpen the sprint goal, how to right-size the commitment against capacity, and how to surface risks and dependencies; (2) a retrospective plan - a format suited to the focus and the team's state, the specific prompts, how to keep it psychologically safe, and how to land 3 concrete, owned improvement actions; (3) the facilitator moves for the anti-patterns you expect.
Format: Sections: Sprint planning plan (agenda + prompts) | Retrospective plan (format + prompts + safety) | Handling the anti-patterns.
Verification: Check the agendas fit the timeboxes; flag any part that would run long or that assumes backlog readiness you were not told exists.
Validation: Walk the retro plan against a team that had a bad sprint: would it stay constructive and produce real actions, or descend into blame? Adjust the risky step.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- TEAM_SITUATION
- GOAL_BACKLOG
- CAPACITY
- RETRO_FOCUS
- ANTI_PATTERNS
- TIMEBOXES
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RCTFVV structure (Role, Context, Task, Format, Verification, Validation). RCTFVV extends RCTF with two checking steps. Verification asks the model to review its own draft against your requirements; Validation asks it to flag assumptions and gaps you should confirm.
Related prompts
- Build a plan to reduce chronic absenteeism at my schoolA tiered, data-driven attendance plan with root causes, interventions, and family outreach steps.
- Order catering for a meeting with dietary needs coveredQuantities, menu choices, allergen handling, and a clear catering order for a meeting or event, with nobody left out.
- Write a closed-won handoff from sales to customer successA complete handoff document so the customer success or implementation team starts with everything the buyer was told and expects.
- Write a project charterDefines a project's purpose, scope, objectives, stakeholders, and success criteria.