My agile journey was initiated by a call for improved predictability. As such, there has been an aspect of estimation and planning rattling around in the back of my head ever since I started my first XP experiment. It is one of my favorite subjects in the Agile space. These are my posts on this topic…
Michael Marchi
- If I Had a Tractor – IntroductionHere the metaphor of lawn care serves as a gateway into a discussion of defining and estimating work in a manner similar to what new agile teams are first called upon to learn. We then build on those concepts to demonstrate the rationale for maintaining cross-functional teams. And finally how to budget for these activities. ...
- Having a Ball – IntroductionThere is a simulation I build into my Agile training curriculum. It is based on a very old game that has been used for ages. I’m not the inventor of the game, but I am a very strong adapter of it. Here I examine the core game followed by variations I have used… The Ball ...
- User Story Mapping a Backlog“We’ll start our discussion of Scrum by showing you this Scrum flow diagram. You can see here on the left side of the diagram is this thing we’ll call the Product Backlog. The Product Backlog is a prioritized list of everything our team could possibly do and it’s maintained the Product Owner. ...
- Agile Estimation Primer – Part 1A step-by-step guide to understanding how to apply the concept of relative sizing to estimation, and then using that understanding to build backlogs at various levels of detail – from high level product road maps, through release planning, and onward with increasing levels of precision all the way down to detailed iteration planning… Traditional Estimation In traditional ...
- Agile Estimation Primer – Part 2Our step-by-step guide to applying the concept of relative sizing to estimation continues. In this section we’ll build backlogs at various levels of detail – from high level product road maps, through release planning, and onward with increasing levels of precision all the way down to detailed iteration planning… If you haven’t read Part 1 ...
- Estimates vs. ActualsOne of the more polarizing topics I have seen within the coaching community is on the subject of estimating tasks. Here are my thoughts on when I feel the practice is worth the risk. Tracking Time Estimates Because I staunchly reject the notion that there is a relationship between story points and time, it can seem ...