5 exercises on the specific vocabulary of Scrum and Agile ceremonies: grooming, pointing, velocity, retros, and more.
Key patterns
groom the backlog → refine and prepare stories before planning
point a story → assign story points during planning
commit to the sprint → team agrees to the sprint goal
velocity → average story points completed per sprint
conduct a retro → run the sprint retrospective
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
The Scrum Master says: "Before sprint planning, let's spend 30 minutes to ___ — remove old stories, refine estimates, and clarify acceptance criteria."
Which phrase is the correct Scrum collocation?
Groom the backlog — the standard Scrum term for backlog refinement:
"Groom the backlog" (or "backlog grooming") is the established Scrum collocation for the activity of reviewing, refining, prioritising, and preparing backlog items before sprint planning. The official Scrum Guide calls this "backlog refinement," but "grooming" remains the dominant term in practice.
Backlog management collocations:
groom the backlog → refine stories, update estimates, clarify criteria
refine the backlog → the official Scrum Guide term
prioritise the backlog → reorder items by business value
slice a story → break a large user story into smaller ones
split a ticket → informal; same as slice
close / archive a story → remove it permanently from the backlog
Backlog anatomy: A healthy backlog has epics at the top, broken into user stories, further broken into tasks. The top 2-3 sprints worth of stories should always be "groomed and ready."
2 / 5
During sprint planning, the team is asked: "Can you ___ this user story? How complex is it?"
Which phrase is the Scrum-specific collocation for assigning story points?
Point a story — the Scrum-specific verb for assigning story points:
"Point a story" means to assign story points to a user story during sprint planning or backlog grooming. While "estimate" and "size" are also used, point is the term native to Scrum teams that use story point estimation.
Estimation collocations in Scrum:
point a story → assign story points: "Can you point this before Friday?"
size a story → also common: "We need to size the new authentication epic"
estimate a story → more general; can mean hours or points
play planning poker → the estimation technique using cards
reach consensus on points → agree the final estimate as a team
Fibonacci scale note: Most Scrum teams use the Fibonacci sequence for story points: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21. A story pointed at 13+ is usually a signal to split it further.
3 / 5
At the end of sprint planning, the Scrum Master asks: "Is everyone happy? Can we ___?"
Which phrase means to agree to and accept the sprint scope as a team?
Commit to the sprint — the Scrum term for team acceptance of the sprint goal:
"Commit to the sprint" means the team agrees to take on the selected backlog items and deliver against the sprint goal. It signals collective ownership and accountability. The Scrum Guide moved away from "commitment" language, but the phrase remains standard in team conversations.
Sprint lifecycle collocations:
commit to the sprint → team agrees to the sprint goal and scope
kick off the sprint → formally start it after planning
walk the board → review in-progress tasks during standup
close / complete the sprint → end it in the sprint tool (Jira, Linear)
carry over to the next sprint → move unfinished items forward
The sprint goal: A well-formed sprint has a sprint goal — a single sentence describing the value the sprint delivers. "Can we commit to the sprint?" is also implicitly asking "can we commit to this goal?"
4 / 5
A new team member asks what "velocity" means in Scrum.
Which explanation is most accurate?
Velocity — the team-level throughput metric in Scrum:
Velocity is the average number of story points a team completes across multiple sprints. It is a team-level metric, not an individual one, and is used for sprint planning and release forecasting.
velocity stabilises → becomes consistent after 3-5 sprints
velocity drops → team delivered fewer points than usual
plan against velocity → use past velocity to forecast future sprints
Common misconceptions:
Velocity is NOT a measure of individual developer speed
Velocity is NOT comparable between teams (story points are relative)
Velocity is NOT the same as lead time or cycle time (which measure time, not points)
Related metrics: Lead time = time from request to delivery. Cycle time = time from start to completion. Throughput = number of tickets completed per sprint.
5 / 5
At the end of the sprint, the Scrum Master says: "Let's ___ — what went well, what didn't, and what we'll improve next sprint."
Which phrase is standard Scrum terminology?
Conduct a retro — the standard phrase for the Sprint Retrospective:
"Conduct a retro" (short for Retrospective) is the standard collocation for the Scrum ceremony held at the end of each sprint. The retro follows a structured format: what went well, what did not, and what the team will improve. It is a safe space for honest feedback.
Retro collocations:
conduct / run / hold a retro → facilitate the retrospective meeting
facilitate a retro → slightly more formal phrasing
action a retro item → commit to an improvement action
open the retro board → launch the collaborative tool (Miro, FunRetro)
Scrum ceremonies — full set:
Sprint Planning → select and commit to sprint backlog
Daily Standup / Daily Scrum → 15-min sync
Sprint Review / Demo → showcase completed work to stakeholders
Sprint Retrospective (Retro) → team improvement discussion