Who participates in estimating poker?

• A. Only the Scrum Master estimates.
• B. Team members participate; Product Owner does not estimate.
• C. Stakeholders estimate during planning.
• D. Product Owner estimates on behalf of the team.

Answer: (B)

Estimating during planning poker is a team activity. The people who will actually do the work—developers, testers, and other cross-functional teammates—participate to share their understanding of effort, complexity, and risk. This collective input leads to a forecast that reflects how the work will be approached and built. The Product Owner’s role is to describe the backlog item, clarify acceptance criteria, and answer questions about requirements and priorities, but they do not provide the estimate. Having the team own the estimate keeps it grounded in the realities of implementation and prevents single-role bias. The facilitator (often the Scrum Master) helps the process run smoothly, not by giving the estimates themselves. Stakeholders can offer context if needed, but the actual estimation should come from the team.