Why teams should estimate their workWhy teams should estimate their workWhy teams should estimate their workWhy teams should estimate their work
    • Our Expertise
      • Increase Effectiveness
      • Align & Focus
      • Agile Leaders
      • Autonomous Teams
    • Our Offer
    • Our Achievements
    • Our Blog
    • About Us
      • Contact Us
    • 4 Pillars
    • Academy for Agile Coaches
    0

    0 ₫

    • Academy Login

    Why teams should estimate their work

    • Home
    • Insights
    • Agile Team Enablement Agile Delivery
    • Why teams should estimate their work
    Published by Chris Kruppa on October 25, 2016
    Estimate on your board

    When we worked with Software teams in Sprint Plannings, we realised, that they usually followed good practices to implement tools to make the planning efficient. But often there was still a misunderstanding of why they should estimate their tasks. Therefore, the team discussed details endlessly – even when we did not need to resolve them right away.

    When we asked teams why we should estimate, most answered: We need to know, how long it would take to develop the story. And partly this makes sense: This knowledge helps the product team to make more informed decisions on when to release.

    The answer of the Scrum Guide

    But according to The Scrum Guide, the planning should answer the following two questions:

    1. What can be delivered in the Increment resulting from the upcoming Sprint?
    2. How will the work needed to deliver the Increment be achieved?

    Team members use estimations to answer the first question. But the focus of the answer should lead teams to look on what to deliver; not how long it takes.

    Achieving a certain velocity is not the goal of a sprint planning – it is it’s result

    Realising this I started to explain, that the team should not find out in Sprint Planning 1, how long they need to develop something. Instead, the team should make sure, that everyone has the same understanding of the story.

    Suddenly, teams discussed during estimations less about exact numbers. They rather discussed to answer the most important questions in order to fulfil the story.
    Now, In our case the team allows the PO to explain the story in 2 sentences. The Scrum Master facilitates only 3 questions and then the team estimates. Teams focus more on the bigger picture and help other people understand the open questions. Achieving a certain velocity in the end is not the goal of a sprint planning – it is it’s result.

    I am not in Software – should we estimate?

    Working in teams and doing teamwork are two different parts of the same medal. It probably makes less sense to estimate in a team, where everybody has specific responsibilities. A designer in a Marketing team would probably not understand enough analytics to estimate Adwords analyst’s work. If there is a chance of highly integrated teamwork and the work is also creative, an estimation session might be helpful to effectively align the whole team back to the same shared vision of the project.

    Share
    Chris Kruppa
    Chris Kruppa
    Chris is a German working in Vietnam since 2008. He became passionate on Agile, when he started to implement Agile into his Marketing team about 2010. He immediately saw the impact of cross-functional and transparent teams and became a CSM in 2011. He founded semdi solutions in 2012 with the goal to coach teams on how to be more adaptive and ready for the 21st century. Since then, he has worked with nearly 20 organizations in Southeast Asia and supported them in increasingly becoming more Agile.

    Related posts

    What is Agile? True Agile is rarely visible in it's process
    January 5, 2023

    Agile: More than Just a Framework


    Read more
    Portrait Photo of Woman in Red Top Wearing Black Framed Eyeglasses Standing In Front of White Background Thinking
    December 13, 2022

    Making the most of Scrum: Avoid these Misconceptions


    Read more
    men and women having a meeting
    December 5, 2022

    Why You Need to be Agile


    Read more

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

    Logo semdi solutions

    semdi solutions Co. Ltd.

    Level 14, Saigon Center 1
    65 Le Loi
    Ward Bến Nghé, District 1
    Hồ Chí Minh City

     
    • Contact
    • Imprint
    • Privacy Policy
    semdi solutions, © 2022
      0

      0 ₫

      • Academy Login
      ✕

      Login

      Lost your password?

      We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
      Read More about our privacy policy
      Cookie SettingsAccept All
      Manage consent

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
      CookieDurationDescription
      _GRECAPTCHA5 months 27 daysThis cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
      cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
      viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
      Functional
      Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
      CookieDurationDescription
      ppwp_wp_session30 minutesNo description
      Performance
      Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
      Analytics
      Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
      CookieDurationDescription
      _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
      _ga_8T1CV8HV5N2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
      _gat_gtag_UA_28003764_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
      _gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
      _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
      Advertisement
      Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
      CookieDurationDescription
      test_cookie15 minutesThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
      Others
      Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
      SAVE & ACCEPT
      Powered by CookieYes Logo
      Pre-register for our 4 Pillars Guide

      "*" indicates required fields