Sprint Planning & Estimation Flashcards

What is the key difference between 'effort' and 'duration' when estimating agile user stories?

Answer: Effort is the total work involved regardless of who does it; duration is calendar time including waits and dependencies

Effort measures the total work required, while duration includes elapsed calendar time which can be affected by interruptions, handoffs, and waiting.

Which role is ultimately accountable for the ordering of the product backlog prior to sprint planning?

Answer: Product Owner

The Product Owner owns and is accountable for backlog ordering, ensuring the highest-value items are ready for the team to pull into sprints.

In T-shirt sizing estimation, what is the primary advantage over story points for new teams?

Answer: It is more intuitive for teams unfamiliar with numerical relative sizing

T-shirt sizing (XS, S, M, L, XL) uses familiar size labels that feel natural and reduce early resistance to relative estimation.

A product backlog item lacks sufficient detail for the team to estimate it. What should the Product Owner do before the next sprint planning?

Answer: Refine the item with the team during backlog refinement to add detail and acceptance criteria

Backlog refinement ensures items are sufficiently detailed, estimated, and understood before they are pulled into sprint planning.

What does 'yesterday's weather' mean as an agile planning technique?

Answer: Using the previous sprint's actual velocity to forecast the upcoming sprint's capacity

'Yesterday's weather' uses the most recent sprint's velocity as the best predictor of what the team can deliver next sprint.

During sprint planning a developer raises a technical dependency on another team that may block work. What is the BEST response?

Answer: Remove the story from consideration until the dependency is resolved or mitigated

Unresolved external dependencies create risk; the safest approach is to defer items with blocking dependencies or create a plan to resolve them before committing.

Which of the following best describes an 'acceptance criterion' and its role in estimation?

Answer: A specific condition a story must meet to be considered done, which clarifies scope and improves estimate accuracy

Acceptance criteria define the boundaries of a story, helping the team understand exactly what must be built and enabling more accurate estimates.