How do you estimate the effort and complexity of sprint backlog tasks?

To stimate the effort and complexity of sprint backlog using story points, which focus on the complexity, risk, and effort of a task rather than the time it will take. Engage the entire team in estimation by using techniques like planning poker, where team members individually estimate a task’s complexity using cards.This approach ensures that the estimation process is collaborative, data-driven, and reflective of the actual effort and complexity involved.

To estimate effort and complexity of sprint backlog tasks, break down user stories into smaller tasks. Use techniques like Planning Poker or T-shirt sizing to assess based on factors like complexity, required skills, risks, and dependencies. Engage the entire team to get diverse perspectives and ensure a balanced estimate. Consider past sprint data to improve accuracy, and focus on relative sizing rather than exact hours to maintain flexibility and reduce overestimation.

Product backlog is constantly evolving backlog and scrum team needs to assess the product backlog. Classify accordingly it into Sprint backlog, Release backlog, Technical debt backlog, Bugs/Issues backlog, Refinement backlog buckets. Collaborate with PO to refine, prioritize the stories. Create the document and place centrally for its access.

We can use any relative estimation technique like Planning poker, T shirt size, bucket method, Fibonacci series, expert judgements, time based , breaking down user stories into task, Three-Point Estimation Description: Calculate estimates using three values: Optimistic Estimate (O): Best-case scenario where everything goes smoothly. Pessimistic Estimate (P): Worst-case scenario where things take longer. Most Likely Estimate (M): A realistic estimate based on the team's experience. Formula: (O + 4M + P) / 6. Benefit: Balances optimistic and pessimistic scenarios, giving a more realistic estimate, especially for tasks with high uncertainty.

A sprint is a subset of the product backlog that the development team commits to complete in a specific time frame, usually one or two weeks. It is created during the sprint planning meeting, where the product manager (or product owner) defines the goal to be achieved by the team (. As a consequence, the team then selects the most important and feasible items from the product backlog to achieve the goal.

The sprint backlog is a list of use-r stories that have clearly de-fined requireme-nts and acceptance criteria. The-se stories are planne-d for the upcoming sprint and are ready for de-velopment. It's important to collaborate with the- product owner (PO) to refine the- user stories, prioritize the-m, and seek approval on the acce-ptance criteria before- adding them to the sprint plan.

Another way to do this estimation during the "backlog refinement is to break down tasks and user stories as small as possible. Then, based on historical data, plan the sprint accordingly.

Regardless of the method used, it's essential to involve the entire team in the estimation process to leverage collective knowledge and expertise. Regularly reviewing and refining estimates based on feedback and actual progress during the sprint is essential. This approach ensures that the estimates remain accurate and aligned with the project's evolving needs.

As a Product owner I used to look at historical data where stories of similar scope and acceptance criteria were worked on. This helps me to get basic idea of the effort needed to be put in by the engineering team. Then comes in the actual input of the engineering team of any technical challenges that could arise or the usual workflow that needs to be followed. During the estimation session all members in the scrum team (developers, data engineers, QA) can collectively vote (poker bot) and justify the points given in case if there is some mismatch.

During story refinement sessions, team along with PO finalizes the prioritization of the user stories. However Dev team would sequence the user stories using MoSCoW, Value or effort method or its combination.

Monitoring and updating sprint backlog tasks is essential for ensuring the successful execution of the sprint. Manage effectively thru Daily stand-ups, Task boards, Burndown charts, real-time updates, Reviews & retrospectives using tools Jira for dashboards, burndowns and slack tools for real-time collaborative activities.

Take one hour with your team to do retros. Retrospectives are really helpful meetings to tune the actions of each member and therefore improve the outcome of the sprints. Use a shared board (like Miro) to promote topics of discussion and proposals from every member of the group, improve the focus of the theme and define actions.

An ideal way we used during sprint retros was to write down what went well, what didn't during the sprint. All members could point out the difficulties they faced and what could have been done to avoid this from happening. We then try to come up with a action plan to address this issue and every members needs to agree on this. We can then try the new method and see how it functions and see the team's response and evaluate accordingly.