ICP Agile Planning & Estimation 3

Question 1

What is the 'Cone of Uncertainty' and why is it relevant to Agile planning?

Accepted Answer

A model showing that early project estimates carry high uncertainty that reduces as more is learned over time

Answer

A diagram depicting the increasing scope of a project over time

Answer

A chart tracking technical debt accumulation per sprint

Answer

A method for measuring team happiness during a project

Question 2

What is capacity planning in the context of a sprint?

Accepted Answer

Estimating how many story points or hours the team has available given leaves, ceremonies, and other commitments during the sprint

Answer

Determining how many users the product can support at launch

Answer

Calculating the maximum number of features that will ever be added to the product

Answer

Measuring the processing capacity of the team's development servers

Question 3

Why is it an Agile anti-pattern for the Product Owner to assign story point estimates to user stories before team discussion?

Accepted Answer

It bypasses the team's expertise and removes the shared understanding that estimation conversations create

Answer

Estimation is the Product Owner's sole responsibility under Scrum rules

Answer

The Product Owner is not allowed to read user stories before the sprint

Answer

Estimates must always be provided by external consultants in Agile

Question 4

What is timeboxing in Agile, and how does it support planning?

Accepted Answer

Allocating a fixed, predetermined period for an activity or iteration to create discipline and predictability

Answer

Limiting each team member's working hours per day to prevent burnout

Answer

Storing sprint artifacts in a version-controlled repository

Answer

Scheduling all meetings at the same time each day

Question 5

Which statement BEST describes how Agile teams use historical velocity for release planning?

Accepted Answer

Velocity trends serve as a rough guideline for forecasting, but plans must adapt as new information emerges

Answer

Velocity is guaranteed to remain constant, so future sprints can be predicted exactly

Answer

Velocity should be ignored in favor of stakeholder deadline mandates

Answer

Only the highest velocity sprint should be used to forecast future delivery

Question 6

What is an 'iteration goal' (or sprint goal) and why is it important for planning?

Accepted Answer

A concise statement of the business value the team plans to achieve during the sprint, providing focus and coherence

Answer

A specific line of code the team must deliver by end of sprint

Answer

A list of all individual tasks assigned to each team member

Answer

The maximum number of bugs allowed to remain open at sprint end

Question 7

In Agile planning, what does it mean to 'split' a user story?

Accepted Answer

To divide a large or complex user story into smaller, independently deliverable stories that still provide value

Answer

To assign half the story to one team and half to another

Answer

To remove the user story from the backlog entirely

Answer

To copy the user story into multiple sprints simultaneously