Estimation techniques to use in the Agile SCRUM world (The ART of WAG-Eng)
The focus of this article is the estimation aspect of product backlog. For additional information on SCRUM, please do a search on Google or YouTube. There are many sites and videos that will provide you with an overview in no time.
What is a WAG?
If you’re from the UK you might think this is an acronym for girlfriends or wives of famous football (soccer) players, in software development terms, however WAG is an acronym for Wild @$$ Guess.
Technical budget:
Table Top Tee Size (S, M, L, XL)
Each to-do item is written on a 3×5 index card and placed on a table.
Identify the smallest size element to act as the reference point (S).
Group each card, with each corresponding group approximately twice as large as the first.
(M=P+P, L=M+P)
Any item larger than XL is an epic that is too big to estimate.
(These need to be reassessed and broken down to a size that can be estimated)
Once all the elements (cards) are placed in their groups. Points are assigned to each size.
Fibonacci numbers can be used or simply doubled, for example:
Double: S=1, M=2, L=4, XL=8
Fibonacci: S=1, M=3, L=8, XL=13
poker schedule
Each backlog item is discussed with participating team members.
Each participant has a deck of planning poker cards.
Once the backlog item has been discussed, everyone shows their card.
If the estimates are close together, the larger of the estimates is taken. If there are big differences between the estimates, then the tallest and the shortest discuss aloud why they think their estimate is more accurate.
For distributed teams, there is software available that will allow you to perform this exercise.
Velocity
In physics, velocity is the rate of change of position.
In Scrum, velocity is how much backlog effort a team can handle in a sprint.
Example: Product Backlog of 1000 Points
The team has burned 300 points in three sprints.
The speed is 100 points per sprint.
At current speed, this team would project to finish the remaining 700 points in 7 sprints.