estimating

A train accelerating through a station Defining Velocity for Your Agile Team

When an agile team talks about velocity, it's usually how much functionality they'll deliver in a sprint, often based on historical data about the number of story points the team tends to finish. But you shouldn't use velocity as a measure of success for your agile process. Make sure everyone knows what's important.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
Better Software magazine cover What’s in the Spring 2017 Issue of Better Software Magazine

This is the second issue of Better Software magazine for 2017, and it has the largest page count of the last few years. With close to one hundred thousand subscribers worldwide, Better Software is fulfilling a real need in the software development community. As always, this issue has some thought-provoking articles.

Ken Whitaker's picture
Ken Whitaker
Why Is Estimating Software Testing Time So Difficult?

Management loves to ask testers to estimate how long their efforts will take. But so many important factors elude measurement that it makes it difficult to predict. If you need to explain why estimation is so tough, here are nine factors that significantly influence our ability to estimate testing time.

Lee Copeland's picture
Lee Copeland
The Consequences of Project Delay

An often overlooked and underappreciated aspect of project schedules is the consequences of delay on others. Due dates and commitments sometimes matter more than they appear. Knowing the larger context of your project can help you prioritize how you undertake it, consider options, and improve problem-solving.

Payson Hall's picture
Payson Hall
Become an Estimation Leader

Single-point estimates, whether they are for a budget or a schedule, are never correct. Things happen. Demanding that your team provide you an exact number and then treating that as a guarantee is not being a good manager—or being agile. What if you could provide a different estimation leadership?

Johanna Rothman's picture
Johanna Rothman
Planning Techniques for Estimating Projects

Agile teams often use estimation to plan projects. There are many different methods, and which you choose should depend on the type of work, what kind of deadline there is, and your team. Matt Heusser explains some estimating techniques that can expand your options when planning a work effort.

Matthew Heusser's picture
Matthew Heusser
Focus on the Most Challenging Parts of Your Project

We estimate to make decisions and to give an answer to the question, "When will this be done?" But estimation has limits, and trying to estimate too precisely in an agile project is wasteful. By driving the backlog based on priority, you can better deliver what is valuable to the business.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
Meeting the Goal of Estimation

The classic discussion for agile estimation is about whether points or hours are better. But there is now a third option: a movement called #NoEstimates. It actually does involve estimation, but you break down work in priority order and estimate only when you know enough to estimate accurately.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk