Story Points

5 minutes 5 Questions

Story Points is an abstract measure used to size user stories based on their overall complexity, unknowns, and effort required to complete the task. The higher the number of story points, the more complex and time-consuming the work is. Story points are an essential part of Agile Estimation as they…

Guide for Understanding and Answering Questions on Story Points in Agile Project Management

What Are Story Points:
Story points are units of measure for expressing an estimate of the overall effort that will be required to fully implement a product backlog item or any other piece of work. It's a statistical technique in which a rough estimation is transformed into a sequence or ‘story’.

Why Are Story Points Important:
Story points are important because they help teams estimate the amount of work they can handle in future iterations based on the team's velocity or capacity. It is not about working hours, it’s more about the complexity of the work, the unknown, and the effort needed.

How Do Story Points Work:
Story points are usually assigned using a Fibonacci-like format: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc. This kind of nonlinear scale can help teams reflect on the work involved in the task more proficiently. Points are assigned to a story during the sprint planning meeting by the development team.

Answering Questions on Story Points in an Exam:
When answering questions about story points in an exam, emphasis should be placed on the understanding that story points quantify effort, not time. Ensure your answers demonstrate a good understanding of this concept and its application in Agile project management.

Exam Tips:
1. Clarify your understanding: Ensure that you understand the concept of story points before attempting questions.
2. Use examples: When possible, cite examples in your answers to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the use of story points.
3. Understand the context: Be aware of the context of the question in relation to Agile project management, and relate the use of story points to this context.
4. Be concise: Try to be concise and to the point in your answer. Examiners typically prefer short, well-articulated answers as opposed to long-winded responses.
5. Review your answers: Always take time to review your answers to ensure they clearly and correctly address the questions asked.

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Question 1

The team is consistently underestimating story points. Which of the following can help the team to improve their estimates?

Ignoring story points and focusing solely on deadlines Reducing sprint length and hoping to improve accuracy Asking the product owner to estimate story points Reviewing past estimates, identifying patterns, and adjusting the estimation process Adding a fixed percentage to all story point estimates Continuing with the same estimation process and hoping for better results

Correct Answer: Reviewing past estimates, identifying patterns, and adjusting the estimation process

Reviewing past estimates, identifying patterns, and adjusting the process can help the team learn from mistakes and improve their estimation accuracy. The other options do not support learning and improvement.

Question 2

A user story has been found to be too complex during estimation. What should you do?

Ask the project manager to handle the situation Split the user story into smaller stories with their own story points Combine the user story with another complex user story Assign an arbitrary high story point value Remove the user story from the backlog Move the user story to the next sprint

Correct Answer: Split the user story into smaller stories with their own story points

Breaking down a complex user story into smaller stories makes it easier to estimate and manage. Moving it to the next sprint or removing it from the backlog does not resolve the complexity.

Question 3

During a sprint, a user story estimated at 13 Story Points is proving to be easier than anticipated. The team believes it should be only 5 points. How should the Scrum Master address this situation?

The Scrum Master should ignore the team's opinion and stick to the original estimate. The Scrum Master should leave the estimate as it is, but the team can use this as a learning for future sprints. The Scrum Master should immediately change the estimate to 5 for the current sprint. The Scrum Master should cancel the sprint and redistribute Story Points.

Correct Answer: The Scrum Master should leave the estimate as it is, but the team can use this as a learning for future sprints.

In Agile Scrum methodology, once a sprint has started, its scope is supposed to remain fixed for the duration. This means the Scrum Master should leave the original estimate of 13 Story Points as it is. Changing the estimate mid-sprint would impact the predictability of the sprint and could set a precedent, making it harder to maintain consistency in future sprints. The team could use this incident as a learning experience to refine their estimation practices for future sprints. This is why the Scrum Master should not immediately change the estimate to 5 for the current sprint, cancel the sprint and redistribute Story Points, or ignore the team's opinion and stick to the original estimate. These actions would disrupt the integrity and flow of the sprint, which goes against the principles of Scrum methodology.

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