PMI CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) Examination Content OutlineAgile Frameworks/MethodologiesMedium
A Scrum Master is coaching a Development Team that is consistently struggling to complete all committed work within a Sprint. During Sprint Retrospectives, the team frequently identifies that they are overcommitting due to an inaccurate understanding of their capacity and the complexity of the Product Backlog Items. Which Agile estimation technique would be MOST beneficial for the team to adopt to improve their Sprint planning and commitment accuracy?
- AAffinity estimation.
- BT-shirt sizing.
- CIdeal days.
- DPlanning Poker.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Planning Poker.
Planning Poker is a consensus-based estimation technique where team members provide estimates using a modified Fibonacci sequence, promoting discussion and shared understanding of complexity, which directly addresses inaccurate understanding of work.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Affinity estimation is useful for quickly estimating a large number of items by grouping similar ones, but may not provide the deep discussion and consensus needed for accurate Sprint commitments for each item.
- B. T-shirt sizing is a high-level estimation technique useful for initially sizing a large backlog, but it's often not granular enough for precise Sprint-level commitment accuracy.
- C. Ideal days can be prone to individual bias and don't inherently promote shared understanding or address complexity consensus as effectively as Planning Poker.
Planning Poker
A consensus-based, gamified technique used in Agile to estimate the effort or relative size of user stories or Product Backlog Items, typically using a modified Fibonacci sequence.
- Promotes discussion and shared understanding.
- Mitigates anchoring bias.
- Facilitates quick consensus or highlights disagreements.
- Uses relative sizing (e.g., Story Points).
Memory trick: Estimate with poker for details, T-shirts for quick, affinity for groups.