T-Shirt Sizes

Correct Answer: Initiate a discussion and arrive at a consensus estimate

In Scrum, the purpose of planning poker is to reach a consensus on the estimate of a particular task or user story. If team members are attributing varied 'T-shirt sizes' for an item, this indicates disagreement or a lack of common understanding about the task's complexity or size. Rather than ignoring the diverging opinions or averaging them out, the best approach is to initiate a discussion. This discussion allows team members to share their perspectives, clarify uncertainties and ultimately arrive at a consensus estimate. This is why the correct answer is 'Initiate a discussion and arrive at a consensus estimate'. Other options, such as going with the majority size, taking an average, or choosing the smallest size to play safe, are not the best practices in Scrum as they do not address the root cause which is usually a gap in understanding or a source of uncertainty within the team members' estimates.

Correct Answer: Ask the product owner for more clarification about the task.

The best course of action when the Scrum Team cannot estimate the T-Shirt size for a recent task due to lack of details is to ask the Product Owner for more clarification about the task. It is the Product Owner's responsibility to have the product backlog items ready for the Development Team for estimation. The other options are not advisable. Choosing a random size for the task does not reflect the true effort it might require. Dropping the task altogether would potentially ignore a valuable increment to the product, and assigning it the largest size to account for uncertainty might misrepresent the actual effort needed and negatively affect sprint planning.

Correct Answer: Collaborate with the Product Owner to assess the impact on the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as necessary.

In Scrum, when a team realizes that a task is larger than initially estimated, the focus should be on the impact to the Sprint Goal and collaborating with the Product Owner to make any necessary adjustments to the Sprint Backlog. This approach maintains the integrity of the Scrum process, ensuring flexibility and adaptability without jeopardizing the sprint’s objectives. Holding an immediate Sprint Retrospective or adding tasks automatically can disrupt the current sprint's flow and focus. Requesting additional resources is not in line with Scrum principles, which emphasize self-management and working within existing sprint constraints to achieve goals.