If there were one topic that seems to dominate all others in agile software development, I’d say its estimation.
Every team seems to struggle with it and I’m always being asked for “silver bullet” solutions that might make it easier. And of course, there are none.
I do think there is some guidance I can provide that might help you to improve your estimation understanding, confidence, and results. Or at least that’s my intent. So let’s try…
2-Phased Estimation
The first thing I’d like to make clear is the nature of most agile estimation & planning approaches. I like to think of them as a 2-phased approach versus the 1-phase, plan everything down to the single molecule in advance approaches typically used in waterfall projects.