Scrum Forum
Planning Poker - reference story? Is it Functional Story or Development story?
While playing Planning Poker, team takes 1 reference story from the backlog which is already done.
Should it be Functional story or the Development story?
Don’t they all have to be estimated? Why would any one be better than another for estimation purposes, including as a point of reference?
Has the attempt to distinguish between so-called “functional stories” and “development stories” introduced unnecessary complication?
@Ian, Thank you for the response.
So what is the best REFERENCE STORY in Planning Poker? Is it a Story which is already Done or a Story from the Product Backlog?
Yes, I agree that "Functional Story" and "Development Story" created complication here, but I came across this question recently in the project.
How to deal with this?
So what is the best REFERENCE STORY in Planning Poker? Is it a Story which is already Done or a Story from the Product Backlog?
Which do you think would provide the best evidence to the team about the amount of work involved, so as to anchor their understanding?
"Functional Story" and "Development Story".
I heard one of my acquaintances talking about these. After further discussion I came to understand them as :
- Functional Story = stories related to new or updated product features
- Development Story = technical debt or new infrastructure needed in order to implement functional stories.
Regardless, they should all be treated equally when ordered in the Product Backlog and estimated by the Development Team.
As for your reference story question, I think the best reference story for the first time doing Planning Poker is the story in the Product Backlog that the Development Team feels they understand the best. That allows them a level of confidence in their first estimate. The first Retrospective after the initial session will include discussion on how they felt they did in their estimation but do not go back and re-estimate. Those stories are now part of history and you don't change history. After the first round, the reference story should be forgotten and any Planning Poker sessions going forward should be done based on what was learned from preceding sessions. Their estimates will evolve over time and become more cohesive as a group.