agile estimating - what's the point(s)?
DESCRIPTION
A short practical session on agile estimating. In this session we look at: 1. Understand the importance of estimating size and duration separately. 2. Understand how a team can use relative estimating. This presentation is based on material and activities from Mike Cohn's CSPO course.TRANSCRIPT
IBusiness Analyst for 6 years and
IIBA NW&E Branch member
Joined Sigma in July 2012
Working on Agile projects for the
past 4 years
Certified Scrum Product Owner
Understand the importance of estimating size and
duration separately.
Understand how a team can use relative
estimating.
Give it a go!
• How long a user story will take (effort) • Influenced by complexity, uncertainty,
risk, volume of work, etc. • Relative values are what is important:
• A login screen is a 2. • A search feature is an 8.
• Basic math properties should hold • 5+5 = 10
Lion Kangaroo Rhinoceros Bear Giraffe Gorilla Hippopotamus Tiger
• Look for the things you know,
that have known estimates or sizes
• Use them to help compare tasks to ensure that they are relatively similar in size
• A little effort helps
a lot • A lot of effort only
helps a little more
• Can you distinguish a 1-point story from a 2?
• How about a 17 from an 18? • Use a set of numbers that make
sense; I like: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, 100
• Stay mostly in a 1-10 range
An iterative approach to estimating
Steps 1. Each estimator is given a deck of cards,
each card has a valid estimate written on it
2. Product owner/Scrum master reads a story and it’s discussed briefly
3. Each estimator selects a card that’s his or her estimate
4. Cards are turned over so all can see them
5. Discuss differences (especially outliers) 6. Re-estimate until estimates converge
Round 1 Round 2
Player 1 5 8
Player 2 5 8
Player 3 8 8
Player 4 20 13
Task (backlog item) Estimate?
Read (and understand) a high-level, 10-page overview of agile software development in a celebrity news magazine.
Read (and understand) a densely written 5-page research paper about agile software development in an academic journal.
Your uncle owns a clock store and wants to sell clocks over the internet. Write a product backlog for him that he can use to get bids from teams in India to build his site.
Recruit, interview, and hire a new member for your team.
Create a 60-minute presentation about agile software development for your co-workers.
Wash and wax your boss’ Camper Van. 2
Read (and understand) a 150-page book on agile software development. 8
Write a 5 page summary on this for your line manager
www.planningpoker.com
• Estimate size; derive duration • A little effort helps a lot • Triangulate • Use the right scale / range • Estimate as a team • Discuss differences (especially outliers) • Re-estimate until estimates converge