CHOW #308: Aren’t apples and oranges the same?!
Upon reading the blog Relative Size – 4 tips, the Scrum Master (SM) of a team I am working with as coach came to me with a question: Why are you emphasizing more time invested in backlog refinement to prepare for the next sprint instead of spending a lot of time in sprint planning? It […]
Relating to Relative Size Estimation
There has been a great deal written about relative size estimation and its many benefits: simplicity, speed and adequacy commensurate with the level of planning. Despite all that, we find that adopting relative size and story point estimates by teams is not without its challenges. This blog covers some tips to coaches for getting teams […]
Four sins to avoid in Agile estimating and planning
One of the most significant issues that I have faced in Agile coaching engagements has been with respect to making and fulfilling commitments. Estimates provide the basis / input for making commitments. If you have poor estimates, your problem in meeting commitments starts before you have even embarked on your product development. I have found […]
Sizing – revisited
If you noticed the topic, I have not called it ‘story sizing’ but just ‘sizing’. That is done intentionally here as that is the aspect that I am going to discuss here. It is well known that Product Owners want to know how much value team is delivering every sprint. And management is also interested […]
Sizing
What is sizing? “Sizing a project is about grouping its user stories based on agreed upon complexity factors” Let me explain. When you hear, T-shirt size M or L, what comes to your mind? “May be a right fit!” “30 or 40 inches of shoulder width!” And some more… Depending on your experience with T-shirts. […]
CHOW #147 – Should teams necessarily do task effort estimates as part of iteration planning?
Omega systems worldwide Inc. is a Software Platform and Solutions provider in the areas of Customer Relationship Management and Healthcare systems. They have been in the Agile/Scrum journey for over 5 years now. While they have achieved a fair degree of consistency with Agile implementation in various teams across the organization, they have not experienced […]
