Agile & Scrum Blog
Practical tips on Scrum Poker, story points, and agile estimation, written for teams running real sprints, not to rank for a keyword. Looking for in-depth guides instead? See our guides.
Does Planning Poker Work for Kanban Teams?
Planning poker is built around sprints, but plenty of flow-based teams still want a consistent way to size work. Here's how to adapt it when there's no sprint boundary.
38 more articles
Why Story Points Inflate Over Time (And How to Stop It)
A "5" today isn't the same size as a "5" a year ago on most teams. Point inflation quietly breaks velocity as a planning tool. Here's why it happens and how to reset it.
The Scrum Master's Role in Planning Poker
A good facilitator makes planning poker fast and honest; a bad one makes it a rubber stamp. Here's what the Scrum Master should actually be doing during estimation.
5 Common Planning Poker Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)
Planning poker only works when the team trusts the numbers. These five mistakes quietly undermine that trust, and the fixes are simpler than you think.
Estimation Anti-Patterns That Kill Sprint Velocity
Some estimation habits feel productive but consistently produce worse results. Here are the most common anti-patterns and how to eliminate them from your planning process.
How Team Size Affects Your Estimation Accuracy
Small teams and large teams estimate differently, and each has predictable failure modes. Here's how to get reliable estimates regardless of how many people are in the room.
When to Re-Estimate Mid-Sprint
Scope changes during a sprint. Most teams ignore it. Here's when re-estimating in the middle of a sprint improves delivery and when it just creates churn.
Sprint Zero: What to Estimate Before You Even Start
Sprint Zero is setup time before delivery begins. Estimating it well sets the whole project up for reliable planning. Here's what belongs in Sprint Zero and how to size it.
How to Estimate Bug Fixes in Your Backlog
Bug fixes are notoriously hard to estimate because the scope is often unknown until you're in the code. Here's a framework for sizing them without wild guessing.
The Danger of Anchoring in Agile Estimation
Anchoring is the most common and least-discussed problem in planning poker. The first number a team hears shapes every vote that follows. Here's how to prevent it.