What are the most common pitfalls to avoid when estimating backlog items?

Story point estimation for user stories is a team effort, not a task for one person. This process is guided by three principles: Card, Conversation, and Confirmation. The 'Card' principle stresses that a user story should be brief and clear, fitting on a small card. 'Conversation' highlights the importance of team discussions for understanding and estimating the story accurately. Finally, 'Confirmation' involves examining the Acceptance Criteria from the Product Owner, deciding if a story is too broad and needs splitting. The goal is to foster team collaboration, communication, and a unified understanding of each story.

Involving team while estimating the backlog items is definitely the most effective approach. The main reason for it is to keep everyone on the same table regarding the requirements and also gives an idea of the whole picture which includes the business logics and technical explanations. Also helps to identify if the backlog item is any longer required or not. Having the team together helps to plan the project accordingly with the correct effort needed and timeline for delivery.

Of course, the whole team needs to be involved, but it is critical that everyone has the same understanding of the process and a common language such as ensuring that everybody understands the "definition of done" and unlike the episode of Silicon Valley - it is not a competition as to who can provide the lowest estimate.

The most common pitfalls to avoid when estimating backlog items include overcommitting to unrealistic timelines, not considering dependencies, and lacking a shared understanding among team members. Ensure realistic estimations by involving the entire team and leveraging their collective expertise. Avoid overlooking dependencies and complexities by thoroughly analyzing the backlog items before estimation. Regularly communicate and reassess estimations to adapt to changing circumstances and maintain a more accurate backlog.

The real reason, why the whole team should be involved in the estimation process is not estimation (paradoxically). The true reason is team's commitment to deliver Sprint. But for the team to be able to make such commitment, everyone have to clearly understand every item in Sprint Backlog. And this is triggered by refinement and estimation. If some members will not be presented during estimation, they will not fully understand those items and therefore will not be able to commit to deliver Sprint Backlog. Simple as that.

Literally haven’t met a whole team that actually realises what the story points are and what they mean, and why are they used for. Story points represent complexity. If you face a certain problem this might be 13points ( so quite complex ) but once you have face it for second time it makes sense that this is not that complex because you at least know what the approach of solving this problem is.

it's crucial for the team to grasp the distinction between effort and duration and use a consistent scale for estimating story points. Converting story points into hours or days should be avoided, as it introduces unnecessary variability. Shared Understanding: Ensure the team understands the story points scale for relative complexity. Reference Story: Use a known story's points as a baseline for consistent estimation. Collaborative Estimation: Employ techniques like Planning Poker for team-wide input. Consider Factors: Evaluate complexity, effort, risks, and uncertainties, not just time. Relative Sizing: Focus on comparing story sizes rather than absolute values.

This pitfall relates to my earlier point of common language and understanding. Another issues typically occur at this stage: Not understanding the capacity model in-place (i.e. what work is and isn't estimated). Not understanding the bigger the estimate the greater the variance.

The pitfall of confusing effort with duration is a common challenge in agile estimation and can have significant consequences for project planning and execution. It is crucial for teams to internalize the distinction between effort and duration, recognizing that the inherent complexity of a task doesn't always directly translate into the time it will take to complete. By maintaining a clear understanding of these concepts and using a consistent scale, such as story points, teams can avoid misunderstandings and ensure that estimates accurately reflect the necessary work, contributing to more effective planning and better management of expectations for all involved parties.

Good communication is like the heartbeat of successful Agile work. If you don't talk and agree on how long things will take, it can mess up even the best plans. Everyone involved, like the people who want the end result, should understand and agree on the plan. This helps prevent expensive misunderstandings and problems during the project. Using things like user stories can really help make sure everyone knows what's going on and sees the same picture.

It is quite rare that a backlog item can be developed entirely without dependencies or risks, but it is a common fact that those things are often forgotten when estimations are done. In order to accomplish relevant estimates, it is very important to consider all things that might affect the item. There could be dependencies to one or more other items, that are being worked on by other developers. There could also be other risks which can be difficult to foresee. In addition to the development, tests will also be needed in order to fulfill the acceptance criteria. All those things should be taken into consideration when making the estimation for the specific item.

Its very important to communicate and document dependencies and risks. Unable to do so might lead to misunderstandings, unclarity on the overall status of the backlog and thus falling prey to vague assumptions leading to confusion and frustration when dependencies become apparent. Its important to have proper collaboration with team members and different stakeholders and subject matter experts to gather proper insights. regularly revisiting the updates and the backlogs along with proper risk and gap analysis can help in falling back inline as per the changing circumstances.

A third pitfall impacting estimate accuracy is the oversight of dependencies and risks. Dependencies involve relationships between backlog items affecting order, priority, or feasibility. Risks encompass uncertainties that may influence scope, quality, or delivery. Both increase complexity and effort, yet teams may overlook or underestimate, leading to overly optimistic estimates and unforeseen issues. To mitigate, ensure the team identifies and analyzes dependencies and risks for each backlog item, adjusting estimates accordingly. Use techniques like contingency buffers, risk registers, or spike stories for effective management.

Projects are dynamic, and sticking to initial estimates without considering evolving factors can lead to significant issues. Embracing an iterative approach ensures that estimates remain relevant and reliable throughout the project lifecycle. Teams may resist frequent revisions, perceiving them as time-consuming or disruptive. Additionally, accurately incorporating emerging insights into estimates can be challenging, requiring effective communication and collaboration.

One common misunderstanding is that an estimation can't be changed once it has been set. That is not true though. Refinement and in some cases revising of the estimation should definitely be done when needed. Things can change on the way, which is not a failure but a natural thing. It can for example be visible after a while that the dependencies are bigger than what was first assumed. Other things could also happen that increases the effort needed to complete the task. With this in mind, it should always be remembered that refining estimates is not only acceptable, but also a good thing.

Whether you revise or refine - you must revisit estimates at some point to learn from them. We must be careful with our language and intent here statements like "evaluate performance" can be misleading and create the wrong culture in a team, especially in its early stages. I joined a team that had seen their estimates challenged constantly, creating distrust within the business. I immediately told my leadership peers that we were going to stop questioning SME estimates. This single action resolved had the biggest impact in improving velocity and the spirit within the business. we employ experts to do a great job, we should trust them and empower them to do their work in the best way.

Estimation is an ongoing, iterative process that should be adjusted as the project unfolds and additional information becomes available. Teams may sometimes cling to initial estimates without revisiting them in light of feedback, learning, or evolving project dynamics. This can result in outdated or inaccurate estimates, leading to missed opportunities, gaps, or errors. To avoid this, it's crucial for teams to consistently review and fine-tune estimates, incorporating new insights and requirements that emerge during the project. Techniques such as velocity, burn-up charts, or retrospectives can be employed to monitor and enhance the accuracy of estimates.

Communication is critical in all teamwork. Ensure everybody understands especially those people less likely to speak-up when they don't. If needed to this in smaller setting. But reinforce messages repeatedly. In one assignment, a senior stakeholder had a vision which needed to be reset following discovery. However, they regularly referred back to their original vision which was disruptive. Once we explained this the stakeholder realised the impact and altered their behaviour.

Communication is definitely key when it comes to estimation of backlog items. It is important that the entire team is involved and it's also vital that the product owner is very well aware of what happen in case he or she hasn't been directly involved in the estimation work. In order to be able to create a relevant estimation and also be able to communicate it, it is important to have clear and well written backlog items to work with. It has to be obvious what the purpose is, and the acceptance criteria should be clear. Without the definition of done and the acceptance criteria it will be very difficult to set an estimation that is even close to correct.

Estimation involves communicating and aligning expectations, assumptions and objectives with stakeholders. However, sometimes teams fail to effectively communicate or align their estimates with the product owner, customers, sponsors or other teams, creating gaps or conflicts between perspectives and priorities. This can lead to misunderstandings and dissatisfaction, as well as scope creep, budget overruns or quality issues. To avoid this, ensure that the team communicates and aligns its estimates with stakeholders, clarifying the reasons, assumptions and constraints behind them. In addition, use techniques such as user stories, acceptance criteria or fact definition to ensure a clear and shared understanding of backlog elements.

Avoid estimating too far into your backlog as priorities chance, remember the principle of just in time and keep enough of a refined backlog for your team's circumstances and no more and no less.

Nice article although a bit dull here and there. Being a product owner involves dealing with many challenges so prepare yourself good in case you want to become one be ready to explain and collaborate with the team in multiple directions possible

In LiveScience industry Overlooking regulatory, underestimating scientific challenges, and neglecting external dependencies can lead to delays. Ensure comprehensive documentation and factor in the time for risk assessment. Involve stakeholders, including scientists and regulatory experts, to gather valuable input. Embrace an iterative approach that considers the learning curve in Lifesciences projects. Account for the complexity of data analysis and collaborate closely with the development team to align estimates. Mitigate these pitfalls to create a realistic and achievable roadmap for Lifesciences endeavors.

The biggest pitfall when estimating backlog items is: forgetting they are estimates if estimates are incorrectly used and then delivery "managed" against them, this will drive the wrong culture and attitudes within a team and erode the psychological safety needed to ensure team health.

Another common pitfall is estimating the backlog items when there are few or many unknowns. A backlog item should be estimated with whole team, only when everyone have clarity and there are not a lot of open questions. If the backlog items has open questions or a part of Acceptance criteria is not clear , those thing should be considered as Unknowns. You can still estimate the items but consider these unknowns during estimation.