I've found that it's often time consuming to make tickets during our sprint planning, but it's the best way to ensure that all of the planned work is done
Ad. 1 Planning in my team depends on priority and input from management:
Higher management review priority every month.
If there is anything new to handle, then an epic is created using recently prepared template to ensure we receive enough information to start execution
Team members are grouped based on supported application, so they use their existing meetings to break down the work and plan next steps.
Ad. 2 Yes, but it is not always on the same level, because:
Holiday (Summer) period
Each team member has individual working style they do not want to change unless they have no other choice due to a closing deadline.
Management sometimes wants to put something in the backlog using a backdoor, and they not always accept NO for an answer.