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PMI-ACP · Question #718

What should a team consider when calculating the effort needed to complete a product backlog?

The correct answer is B. A buffer in the sprint to mitigate unexpected risks. When estimating backlog effort, teams should include a buffer to account for unplanned work, impediments, and unexpected risks that arise during a Sprint. This reflects realistic capacity planning. Artificially increasing velocity and cost (A) distorts metrics and planning…

Submitted by stefanr· Apr 18, 2026Adaptive Planning

Question

What should a team consider when calculating the effort needed to complete a product backlog?

Options

  • AThe increase in velocity and cost
  • BA buffer in the sprint to mitigate unexpected risks
  • CAssigning extra points to each task to allow time for changes
  • DStories describing infrastructure tasks and analysis tasks

How the community answered

(61 responses)
  • A
    2% (1)
  • B
    93% (57)
  • C
    3% (2)
  • D
    2% (1)

Explanation

When estimating backlog effort, teams should include a buffer to account for unplanned work, impediments, and unexpected risks that arise during a Sprint. This reflects realistic capacity planning. Artificially increasing velocity and cost (A) distorts metrics and planning. Adding extra story points to each task (C) inflates estimates and undermines the integrity of relative sizing. While infrastructure and analysis stories (D) are valid backlog items, the specific consideration for effort calculation is risk mitigation via capacity buffer.

Topics

#Effort Estimation#Agile Planning#Risk Mitigation#Sprint Buffers

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