Introduction: Struggling to estimate your user stories? Agenda: What is agile estimation Relative versus absolute estimation Various techniques of estimation Short introduction to Planning poker technique Estimate in Story points or ideal days? When not to re estimate? Common challenges while estimating

2. Practical Estimation
Techniques in Agile!
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AGILE
DEVOPS
AI
DESIGN
THINKING
CULTURE
LEAN
KANBAN
VISUALIZATION
ITSM
CI/CD
SCRUM
SAFE
XP
CLOUD
ANALYTICS
MINDSET
PEOPLE
PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
DATA

4. Sudha Madhuri
18+ years of global experience as a
Project/Program management
Trainer
4 years as an Agile coach & a Trainer
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Agenda
● What is agile estimation
● Relative versus absolute estimation
● Various techniques of estimation
● Short introduction to Planning poker technique
● Estimate in Story points or ideal days?
● When not to re-estimate?
● Common challenges while estimating
● QnA

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What?
• The effort needed to carry out a given task
Why?
• Allows teams make longer term predictions
• Coordinate dependencies and work
• Align priorities and decide on high-value options
• Enables shared understanding through discussions and engagement
When?
• Portfolio backlog planning
• Product backlog refinement
• Sprint Planning
What is Agile Estimation – The three ‘W’s

7. Relative vs. Absolute Estimation
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RELATIVE ESTIMATION
• Compare one item with another
• Estimation unit: Story Point
• Natural for humans to estimate relatively
• Team centric
ABSOLUTE ESTIMATION
• Done in isolation without comparing with
another item
• Estimation unit: Usually in hours or days
• Time centric

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Types of Estimation

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Estimation Techniques

10. Simplification of the bucket
system.
Especially good in smaller groups
with comparable items
Affinity Mapping
Poker Planning
Big / Uncertain / Small
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Participants use numbered playing
cards to estimate the items – voting
driven.
Works well estimating relatively small
number of items, in small teams
Visibility when teams use different
processes?
How do we manage status?
Based on similarities in estimated items.
Best way is to execute this is a visual way and
order them form small groups to large.
Best with small group of people and relatively
small number of items.
Analogy
.
Compare item with estimated story
Informal, quick way to get feel for
backlog size
Works well estimating large item
backlogs
Ideal when several concurrent teams
work on the same product.
Items are estimated into t-shirt sizes
Size decided through open, mutual,
collaborative discussions
T-Shirt Sizes

11. Poker planning and best practices
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Hourly estimation
● Team discusses the user story
● Each estimator picks their estimate from the
Fibonacci series
● All team reveal their estimates simultaneously
● High and low estimates are reconciled and
clarified
● Team estimates same story after clarification
● Team reveals their estimates
● Continue until estimates move closer to each
other
Dos and Don'ts
● Time box the event
● Set aside some time to discuss user story
● Use a timer while estimating
● Do not influence estimators on size of story
● Ensure everyone is aware of base story
● If minimum & maximum estimates are identified the
maximum value becomes size of the story
● Do not average estimates to cut discussions short
● People lacking knowledge of user story could opt out
of estimation
● Avoid converting ideal days to story points
● Recalibrate base story

12. Hourly estimation
● Time to complete a task varies with an individual
● Sometimes tied to performance, leading to
inaccuracy
● Everything needs to be identified upfront when
estimating
● Estimates tend to decay
● False sense of accuracy from poor predictability rates
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Hourly vs. Story point estimation
Story Point Estimation
● Rewarding as teams focus on value derived not time
spent
● Story points perfect for high level estimation
● Tends to account for dependencies and uncertainties
● Estimates can be provided by anyone irrespective of
competencies
● Faster, more transparent, provides psychological safety

13. Common Estimation Challenges
● Expending more time doesn't lead to more
accuracy
● Estimation is done by architects and Pm’s
● Everything needs to be identified upfront when
estimating
● Estimates are treated as commitments
● Story points don't measure time efficiency
When NOT to estimate?
● Spilt over or incomplete stories
● Story appears longer or more complex
than estimated
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14. ‘Questions’
We might help you :)
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Listening!
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