[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       extremeprogramming
Subject:    Re: how do you handle differing estimates by team members? [Was]: [XP] More Challenges
From:       "Dave Rooney" <dave.rooney () mayford ! ca>
Date:       2004-09-30 17:24:45
Message-ID: cjhfgt+qk62 () eGroups ! com
[Download RAW message or body]

--- In extremeprogramming@yahoogroups.com, Curtis Cooley 
<curtis.cooley@g...> wrote:

[snip]

> I've had pretty good luck estimating in points. A story can be 1, 2,
> or 3 points. I encourage most of the stories be estimated at 2. Then
> you know a 1 or 3 because it is significantly larger or smaller. 
> If a 3 is more than twice as 'big' as a 2, then we split it. 
> If a 1 is more than half as small as a 2 then we combine it 
> with another story.
> 
> Of course this infuriates the typcial MS Project driven project
> manager because we have no good idea what a point is. We'll spike
> enough to get a rough idea of about how long it takes a pair to 
> get a point of work done, but just like in all projects, at the 
> beginning we really don't know how big the whole thing is.
> 
> After a couple of iterations, when we start getting a velocity, then
> we can start to have a better idea of when we'll be done.
> 
> When it comes to disputes, then low vote wins. On a new XP team this
> may be a problem because they haven't experienced the impact of low
> balling estimate - your velocity will be low.
> 
> Usually, anyone who thinks a 3 is a 1 can explain why well enough to
> the rest of the team that they become comfortable with the estimate.
> If somebody wants to jump up and down on the table insisting that 
> a 2 is a 1, then I let the 2 be a 1.
> 
> I haven't tried estimating in pair hours yet, though we recently
> switched from points to days on our current project as it winds 
> down.  It seemed like the right thing to do with only two of us 
> and a really good understanding of how long the rest of the 
> work should take.

This is great stuff, explaining very well how to do the relative 
estimates!  I've already convinced our manager that we need to get 
back to story-level estimation, and I want to get away from 
estimating in anything resembling a quantity of time.

Thanks!

Dave Rooney
Mayford Technologies
http://www.mayford.ca




To Post a message, send it to:   extremeprogramming@eGroups.com

To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: extremeprogramming-unsubscribe@eGroups.com

ad-free courtesy of objectmentor.com 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/extremeprogramming/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    extremeprogramming-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]