Agile Project Management Estimation Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Planning Poker, why are Fibonacci-like numbers used instead of a linear 1-10 scale?
- They reflect growing uncertainty as size increases (Correct answer)
- They are easier for managers to total
- They force every story to be the same size
- They map directly to calendar days
Correct answer: They reflect growing uncertainty as size increases
The widening gaps acknowledge that larger items carry more uncertainty, discouraging false precision.
Question 2: A team consistently completes 30 story points per sprint. What is this measurement called?
- Velocity (Correct answer)
- Capacity
- Cycle time
- Burn rate
Correct answer: Velocity
Velocity is the average number of story points a team completes per sprint.
Question 3: When should Planning Poker cards be revealed during estimation?
- Simultaneously after everyone has chosen (Correct answer)
- One at a time starting with the most senior
- Only by the Scrum Master
- After the Product Owner approves each value
Correct answer: Simultaneously after everyone has chosen
Revealing simultaneously prevents anchoring bias from the first person's estimate.
Question 4: Two developers reveal a 3 and a 13 for the same story. What should happen next?
- They discuss the reasoning behind the extremes (Correct answer)
- Average the two to get 8
- The higher estimate automatically wins
- Skip the story and move on
Correct answer: They discuss the reasoning behind the extremes
Wide divergence signals differing assumptions that discussion can surface and resolve.
Question 5: What does a story point primarily represent?
- Relative effort, complexity, and uncertainty (Correct answer)
- Exact hours of coding time
- The number of developers needed
- The business priority of the item
Correct answer: Relative effort, complexity, and uncertainty
Story points are a relative measure combining effort, complexity, and risk rather than absolute time.
Question 6: Why might a new team's velocity be unreliable for the first few sprints?
- The team is still calibrating its shared sense of point sizing (Correct answer)
- Story points change value over time
- Velocity only applies to mature products
- Management hasn't approved the metric yet
Correct answer: The team is still calibrating its shared sense of point sizing
New teams need several sprints to establish a consistent, shared baseline for point sizing.
Question 7: What is the main risk of converting story points directly into hours for stakeholders?
- It reintroduces false precision and undermines relative estimation (Correct answer)
- It makes velocity increase
- It improves estimate accuracy
- It eliminates the need for sprints
Correct answer: It reintroduces false precision and undermines relative estimation
Mapping points to fixed hours defeats the purpose of relative sizing and creates misleading precision.
Agile Project Management Estimation Techniques 2
In Planning Poker, why are Fibonacci-like numbers used instead of a linear 1-10 scale?