Plan sprints in Onplana Schedule

Microsoft Project keeps sprints in the plan itself: a sprint list, and on each task a Sprint and a Board Status. Plan > Manage sprints… gives you the same in Onplana Schedule, with a sprint list and a sprint planning sheet where you drag tasks from one sprint to the next. Everything is saved in the file, where Microsoft Project reads it, and goes to Onplana’s Sprints when you publish.

Pro and above, arriving with Onplana Schedule 0.2

Every control in the dialog unlocks when the app is signed in to an organization on the Pro plan or above. The dialog opens on every plan, and a file that already has sprints shows them, read only. See Unlock the paid features of Onplana Schedule.

Add sprints

1. Open the schedule and choose Plan > Manage sprints…. The Sprints tab opens.

2. The add row is filled in for you: Name “Sprint 1”, and Start and Finish for one sprint length from the plan’s start (two weeks unless the file sets another length). Change any of them.

3. Select Add sprint. The next one starts the day after the last sprint finishes.

4. To rename a sprint or change its dates, edit it in the list. Delete removes it, and its tasks go back to No sprint.

Plan tasks into sprints

1. Open the Sprint planning tab. Each sprint is a lane, beside a No sprint lane, and each task is a card.

2. Drag a card to another lane, or choose its Sprint on the card.

3. Set each card’s Board status: Not Started, Next up, In progress or Done, unless the file defines its own columns.

Every change is one step with Undo. Save to keep the sprints in the file.

In Onplana

When you publish the plan, or add it to Onplana, its sprints become the project’s Sprints and each task joins the sprint you put it in. Sprints in Onplana on the web are a Pro feature too: on a lower plan they are kept and appear when the organization upgrades. See Plan a sprint.

Example

A website rebuild has 24 tasks over six weeks. In Plan > Manage sprints… you add Sprint 1 (5 to 18 January), Sprint 2 and Sprint 3, each two weeks, then on Sprint planning drag the design tasks into Sprint 1, the build tasks into Sprint 2 and testing into Sprint 3, and set Wireframes to In progress. You save, the product owner opens the same file in Microsoft Project and sees the sprints in its Sprint Planning Board, and when you publish, the project in Onplana has three sprints with the same tasks.

Limits

• Summary tasks are not planned into sprints; their subtasks are.
• Board status stays in the file and in Microsoft Project. It does not set a task’s status in Onplana.
• A binary .mpp arrives without its sprints. Project XML carries them, and so does a plan once you have edited and saved it here.
• Sprint names must be unique in the plan, and a sprint needs a name.
• Dragging is one way to move a card; the Sprint picker on the card does the same from the keyboard.

FAQs

Will Microsoft Project see my sprints? Yes. They are saved in the plan the way Project saves them: the sprint list, the board columns, and each task’s Sprint and Board Status.

What happens to a sprint’s tasks when I delete it? They go to No sprint. The tasks themselves are not deleted, and Undo puts the sprint back.

Can I see the sprints in a file without Pro? Yes, read only. Adding, changing and planning sprints need Pro.

Do I need Pro in Onplana to see the published sprints? Yes. Sprints on the web are a Pro feature. Publishing keeps them on every plan, and they appear when the organization is on Pro or above.