How is the amount of work to be completed during a sprint determined?

The scope of work in a sprint is determined by the development team in collaboration with the product owner during sprint planning.

Key factors influencing the scope:

• Sprint Goal: A unified goal that the team aims to achieve by the end of the sprint. All selected backlog items should contribute to its achievement.
• Product Backlog: A prioritized list of items (features, fixes, improvements) that the team can potentially work on. The product owner is responsible for its content and prioritization.
• Team Velocity: The average number of "story points" or other units of estimation that the team can complete in one sprint, based on previous sprints. This metric is a guideline, not a commitment.
• Definition of Done: A clear set of criteria that an backlog item must meet to be considered fully completed and ready for release. This ensures quality and completeness of the work.
• Team availability: Considering holidays, vacations, training, and other factors that may affect the time the team dedicates to sprint work.
• Technical dependencies and risks: Potential blocking factors or complexities that could slow down task completion.

The process of determining scope usually includes:

1. The product owner presents and clarifies the most priority backlog items.
2. The team discusses and estimates the complexity and effort of each potential backlog item (e.g., using Story Points).
3. The team commits only to those items they are confident they can complete according to the "Definition of Done" and achieve the sprint goal.
4. A sprint backlog is formed, containing the selected items and a detailed plan for their implementation.

Scope should not be imposed from outside. The team independently commits to the selected scope based on their own assessment and capacity.