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Agile Estimation Techniques

Techniques for estimating effort in Agile projects

This subtopic covers various techniques for estimating work effort in agile project management. Techniques covered might include story points, wideband delphi, t-shirt sizes and others.
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Agile Estimation Techniques are methods used by teams to forecast effort, complexity, or time required for tasks or user stories in agile projects. These techniques emphasize relative sizing rather than absolute time measurements. Common Agile Estimation Techniques include: 1. Planning Poker: Team members use numbered cards (often Fibonacci sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21) to vote on estimates simultaneously. This prevents anchoring bias and encourages discussion when estimates differ significantly. 2. T-Shirt Sizing: Items are categorized as XS, S, M, L, XL based on relative size. This technique is intuitive and works well for initial rough estimates. 3. Dot Voting: Team members place dots on items to indicate priority or complexity, providing a visual representation of collective opinion. 4. Affinity Estimation: The team physically arranges items in order of relative size, allowing for quick comparisons between items. 5. Bucket System: Items are sorted into predefined "buckets" representing different complexity levels. 6. Story Points: An abstract measure representing effort, complexity, and risk. Teams estimate using points rather than hours, focusing on relative sizing. 7. Ideal Days: Estimation based on how long tasks would take with zero interruptions. These techniques offer several benefits: - They tap into collective wisdom of the team - Focus on relative rather than absolute sizing - Accommodate uncertainty inherent in knowledge work - Improve over time as team velocity becomes established - Reduce estimation time compared to detailed task breakdowns For PMI-ACP certification, understanding when and how to apply these techniques is essential, as is recognizing their alignment with agile values of collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement. These techniques help teams create reasonable forecasts while acknowledging that estimates are not commitments.

Agile Estimation Techniques are methods used by teams to forecast effort, complexity, or time required for tasks or user stories in agile projects. These techniques emphasize relative sizing rather t…

Concepts covered: Wideband Delphi, Proportional Estimating, Fibonacci Sequence, Planning Poker, Analogous Estimating, Large, Uncertain, Small, Cumulative Flow Diagrams, Use Case Points, Velocity Tracking, Ordering Method, Story Points, Bucket System, T-Shirt Sizes, Affinity Estimating, Dot Voting, Ideal Days

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PMI-ACP - Agile Estimation Techniques Example Questions

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Question 1

You're an Agile project manager for a medium-sized marketing project. The initial task is estimated to take 5 hours. Another task that is around 25% less complex is added. Using Proportional Estimating, how long do you estimate the new task to take?

Correct Answer: 3.75 hours

Proportional estimating is an estimation technique in project management which is used when you are having a task that is similar, but not identical to an already completed one. In this case, the new task is 25% less complex than the initial task that takes 5 hours. Therefore, the new task would take 75% of the time taken by the initial task (since it's 25% less complex). 75% of 5 hours is 3.75 hours. Therefore, the answer is '3.75 hours'. The option '4 hours' is incorrect because it is higher than the value derived through proportional estimating. The option '2.5 hours' is incorrect because it approximates the time taken for the new task to be half of the initial one which is not the case here. Finally, the option '5 hours' is incorrect because it suggests that the new task is as complex as the initial one, which contradicts the given information.

Question 2

As the product owner, a task takes 10 hours to complete and another task, twice as complex, is added to your backlog. Using Proportional Estimating, what's your best estimate on how long the new task will take?

Correct Answer: 20 hours

Proportional Estimating (also known as analogous estimating) involves using the actual duration of a similar past activity to estimate the duration of a future one. Hence, if a task that took 10 hours to complete is considered to have a 'complexity' of 1, a task that is twice as complex would take twice as long to complete. So, if a task with a complexity of 1 takes 10 hours, then a task with a complexity of 2 would take 20 hours. Answers '15 hours', '10 hours', and '30 hours' are incorrect because they do not accurately reflect the proportional relationship between the complexity of the task and the duration of the task as outlined in the problem.

Question 3

You’re an Agile coach for a new software development project. A task was initially estimated to need 20 days to finish. A new task that is about 75% less complex is added to the project. Using Proportional Estimating, what is your estimate for the new task's completion time?

Correct Answer: 5 days

Given the initial task was estimated to need 20 days, a new task that is expected to be 75% less complex would need approximately 25% of the original time. Therefore, calculate 25% of 20, which equals 5 days. The other options are incorrect because they do not correctly apply the proportion of 75% reduction in complexity to the initial estimate of 20 days.

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