5 collocation exercises on story estimation and planning verbs.
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1 / 5
The tech lead will ___ the story at eight story points based on its complexity and unknowns.
To estimate a story means to assess the effort required to complete it, typically using story points or time. Estimate is the standard agile term, as in "estimation session" and "sprint estimation." Guess out, score up, and value at are not real collocations. Teams say "estimate the story before committing it to the sprint," so estimate a story is the correct collocation for the planning activity of assessing work effort.
2 / 5
The PM will ___ the project to define its boundaries and what is explicitly out of scope.
To scope a project means to define its boundaries — what is included and what is excluded. Scope is the precise project-management verb, behind "scope creep" and "project scope." Define over, bound off, and size out are informal or not real collocations. PMs say "scope the project before estimation," so scope the project is the correct collocation for the activity of establishing the boundaries of a body of work before committing to a timeline.
3 / 5
At refinement, the team will ___ each ticket into smaller subtasks so it can fit in a single sprint.
To break down a ticket means to decompose a large piece of work into smaller, independently deliverable tasks. Break down is the standard agile term, as in "break down the epic into stories." Size is about estimating effort rather than decomposing work; divide out and slice through are informal. Teams say "break down the large ticket into sub-tasks," so break down the ticket is the correct collocation for the decomposition activity during backlog refinement.
4 / 5
The product manager will ___ user stories to decide which ones to include in the next release.
To prioritize stories means to order them by business value, urgency, and risk, deciding which will be tackled first. Prioritize is the standard product-management verb, behind "prioritisation frameworks" like RICE and MoSCoW. Rank over, order around, and sort through are informal or imply authority rather than strategic decision-making. PMs say "prioritize the backlog before planning," so prioritize stories is the correct collocation for the ordering activity that determines what gets built next.
5 / 5
Before committing to a timeline, the team will run a ___ to explore the approach and reduce uncertainty.
A spike is a time-boxed exploration task designed to answer a specific question or reduce uncertainty before estimation. Spike is the precise XP/agile term, as in "run a spike" and "spike story." Test run, trial shoot, and quick fix are informal or unrelated. Agile teams "run a spike to see if the third-party API meets our needs," so run a spike is the correct collocation for a bounded investigation activity that precedes confident estimation.