Throw the Cat.. and other objects

I copied this exercise from: https://www.tastycupcakes.org/2016/05/throw-the-cat-and-other-objects/

Timing: 10 minutes preparation, 15 minutes to run then as long as you need to debrief

Materials:

Stickies, Pens and a list of objects

Instructions:

I’ve started using this as a variation on the https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/articles/2014/may/title-teaching-relative-estimation-by-throwing-a-c example by Tomasz de Jastrzebiec Wykowski.

The basics of it involve getting the team to discuss the relative estimation of achieving a task. I’ve found this really useful for new members to the team to understand that a 13 for one team may not be a 13 for another, not due to ability but rather it all being relative to previous works done.

  1. On a wall add to sets of estimation counting, anything you like… in this case I used Story Points and T shirt sizes, so one board is the points the other is shirts
  2. Split the team in to two
  3. give each an identical pack of items, don’t look at the yet.
  4. Scenario – each object must be thrown at least one meter
  5. Place the objects on the boards using relative estimation for difficulty

I purposely selected an ambiguous set of objects, which if the team ask for clarification I’ll answer.

So this is what we went for..

  • Cat – will it just let you? will it fight back
  • Ball – it is actually a medicine ball… I just don’t specify
  • Feather
  • Rose
  • Trumpet
  • Pizza
  • Jaguar – worse than a cat… but actually the car
  • Sheet of paper – can you scrunch it? make a plane? again don’t specify
  • Stone – from Stone Henge, again don’t specify
  • Bat – Vampire kind

The actual cards are one word and ambigious

Learning Points:

The purpose is to get discussion going and realise that there is no correct answer, By using 2 different measurements you can see first of all what one group thinks then how it relates.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.