“Okay,” said Priya, the tech lead. “Let’s size them.”
For the first time in months, iteration planning ended early. People didn’t bolt for the door. They lingered, talked about the refactor’s approach, drew diagrams on the whiteboard. iteration planning
“Let’s try something,” she said. “No points.” “Okay,” said Priya, the tech lead
They argued for ten minutes. Then, reluctantly, they tried. ” said Priya
By the end of an hour, the sprint had twenty-seven points. The team’s historical velocity was twenty-two.
Leo stared at the board. Twenty-seven points. Eight developers. Two weeks. He could already feel the Sunday night anxiety creeping in, the Slack messages at 10 p.m., the quiet apologies at the next retro about “overcommitment.”