Sprint Brief Skill
Produce a clear, scannable sprint brief that every team member — engineer, designer, PM — can read in under three minutes and understand exactly what we're doing and why.
Required Inputs
Ask the user for these if not provided:
- Sprint name and number
- Sprint goal (1-2 sentences — flag if too vague)
- Ticket list with owners (or a description of the work)
- Known dependencies or blockers
- Carry-over items from previous sprint (if any)
Process
- Read sprint goal and check it's specific and measurable — flag if it's too vague
- Group tickets by theme or feature area
- Identify the critical path — which tickets must complete for the sprint goal to be met?
- Flag risks: tickets with unclear acceptance criteria, missing designs, unresolved dependencies
- Note carry-over items and whether they affect this sprint's goal
- Validate — Confirm the sprint goal is achievable given the ticket scope and capacity. If the critical path items alone would fill the sprint, flag it as overloaded.
Output Structure
Sprint [Number] Brief — [Dates]
Sprint Goal: [1-2 sentences — specific and measurable] Why This Sprint Matters: [Connect to quarterly OKR in 2-3 sentences]
What We're Building:
- [Theme 1]: [tickets and owners]
- [Theme 2]: [tickets and owners]
Critical Path: [The 2-3 tickets everything else depends on]
Risks to Flag:
- [Risk 1 + mitigation]
- [Risk 2 + mitigation]
Carry-over from Last Sprint: [List + impact on current goal]
Definition of Done: [Specific, agreed criteria for sprint success]
Quality Checks
- [ ] Sprint goal is specific enough to score pass/fail at the end of the sprint
- [ ] Critical path items are named — not just "the important ones"
- [ ] Every risk has a mitigation or owner (not just "this is a risk")
- [ ] Carry-over items are connected to their impact on this sprint's goal
- [ ] Definition of Done is agreed criteria, not a task list