The Practice of Sizing Spikes with Story Points cover image
Project Management

The Practice of Sizing Spikes with Story Points

Explore the impact of sizing spikes with story points in Agile practices.

Gregory Engel
Nov 06, 2018 • 6 min read
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Intermediate
Agile Practices
Performance Metrics
Scrum
Velocity

Summary

This article revisits the practice of sizing spikes with story points in Agile projects, arguing that it's a vanity metric that can mislead teams and stakeholders. The author advocates for unsized, time-boxed spikes to provide a clearer picture of the project's progress. Through examples, the article demonstrates how pointed spikes can obscure real challenges and delay corrective actions. Readers are invited to consider the implications of this approach and share their perspectives on the topic.

Takeaways

  • Accurate metrics are crucial for realistic project timeline predictions.
  • Assigning story points to spikes can create misleading velocity metrics.
  • Open communication of progress mitigates the risk of unexpected delays.
  • Spike tasks are meant to gather information, not to produce a shippable product.
  • Unpointed spikes help reveal genuine performance issues, allowing for timely corrective measures.

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