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Estimates are not commitments. More people need to understand and accept this. You’re on the money about time and/or scope needing to be flexible. Estimates im
by jsmeaton 4y ago
Estimates are not commitments. More people need to understand and accept this.
You’re on the money about time and/or scope needing to be flexible. Estimates improve as you gather more information and complete parts of a project. Providing early feedback that relates to the original estimate is key!
“This is more complex because of X, and will likely add Y time. Do we want to proceed?”
Nothing worse than getting to the end of an original estimate and only then letting a project owner know it’s going to be twice as long.
- philipwhiuk 4y ago> More people need to understand and accept this. Wishing upon a star that people are better is a terrible plan.
- jsmeaton 4y agoIt can be taught and there has to be general agreement. Building trust with early feedback as scope/complexity changes is crucial. Wishing is indeed a terrible plan. Teams that treat estimates as commitments are dysfunctional. Estimates are a tool for budgeting in an agile-like world, and need to be refined as progress is made.
- wlonkly 4y agoOne model that I picked up somewhere (but I don't remember where), which I teach to anyone willing to listen, is that there's four kinds of dates: - Estimates (I think it will take X long) - Targets (I would like to have it done by X) - Soft deadlines (with low consequences for missing) - Hard deadlines (with high, usually external, consequences for missing) and that understanding the model and using those words solves quite a bit of confusion around dates. Of course sometimes targets become soft (or even hard) deadlines because humans are messy, but being able to distinguish those things is a step in the right direction.