Upgrade to PRO for Only $50/Year—Limited-Time Offer! 🔥

Improve Your Estimating and Planning Skills

Improve Your Estimating and Planning Skills

I presented this webinar, which takes a process-focused approach to estimating and planning.

Brett Harned

March 06, 2018
Tweet

More Decks by Brett Harned

Other Decks in Business

Transcript

  1. AGILE? Kanban - Scrum - No Estimates - Sprints -

    Backlogs WATERFALL? Milestones - Dependencies
  2. HYBRID? A Little Bit OF This, A Little Bit Of

    That… AGILE? Kanban - Scrum - No Estimates - Sprints - Backlogs WATERFALL? Milestones - Dependencies
  3. CHOOSE
 YOUR OWN
 ADVENTURE Before you pick a process, consider:

    • Team/talent • Stakeholders/clients • Scope • Deadline
  4. • Your industry: trends, changes, innovation • Your team and

    their capabilities • What works/what doesn’t • History on similar projects BUT STILL, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
  5. ASK QUESTIONS • What is the goal of the project?

    • How will you and your client determine if the project is successful? • What returns will you and your clients see as a result of the project? • Who will participate from the client side? • What range of services does the project require?
  6. AND MORE QUESTIONS • What is your client’s budget for

    the project? • Is there technology involved? If yes, what is it? • Does your client employ anyone with expertise on the topic? • What is the timeline? • Will your services be required after delivery
  7. WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE A method by which you can visually

    represent the composition of a project by breaking down all project stages and aspects into their smallest possible components.
  8. 2 3 BUY Loan approval - 5 days
 Make an

    offer - 2 days
 Conduct inspection - 1 day
 Settlement - 1 day
 MOVE Hire movers - 1 day
 Pack boxes - 5 days Get new keys - 1 day Pay movers - 1 day
 MOVE - 2 days 1 Total Time: 16 days SEARCH Decide on neighborhood - 1 day Find Realtor - 1 day
 Look on realtor.com - 2 days
 In-person visits - 12 days Total Time: 9 days Total Time: 10 days WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE: MOVING
  9. SEEMS EASY, RIGHT? If you get stuck: • Don’t be

    afraid to ask questions • Get granular • Ask colleagues for opinions • Check project histories • Remember, it’s just an estimate!
  10. IN OTHER WORDS How much does it cost for your

    whole dedicated team to work on only one project for one month?
  11. THINGS TO CONSIDER • What roles do you need? •

    How much time is “full time”? • Will your team be truly dedicated? • Will there be holidays or time off? • Is there a blended rate for the team?
  12. 1 RESOURCE, 4 WEEKS = $10K 2 WEEK SPRINTS 1

    RESOURCE, 1 SPRINT = $5K 6 MONTHS = 12 SPRINTS 4 RESOURCES, 12 SPRINTS 4 X $5K = $20K X 12
  13. “Our agile release planning session says the website redesign project

    will take 12 sprints, totaling $240K. Is that estimate in line with what you’ve budgeted?”
  14. “Sure, Sir Stakeholder, we can add that last-minute request. However,

    the team says that will take another sprint to complete it as you’ve requested, so the change in project cost will be $20k. Can you authorize the additional budget?”
  15. “Team, we have to be ruthless about bugs. Any bug

    that prevents us from going live will cost us $20K in an extra sprint, and you all know our bosses—or our clients—will not be happy about that.”
  16. “I know we are falling behind, but If we extend

    the iteration until we feel we are done, I have no way of forecasting the financial impact. However, if we simply extend the project by one extra sprint, I can tell you it will cost exactly $20K.”
  17. USER STORIES As a (ROLE) I want to (DESIRED ACTION)

    so I can (WHY I WANT TO DO THIS).
  18. Fibonacci: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34,

    55, 89… Image source: https://www.slideshare.net/AmaadQureshi/introduction-to-agile-estimation-planning
  19. REASONS TO USE STORY POINTS • Score just the work,

    not all the time around it • No emotional connection to dates or time • Allows team members to score at their own ability • There is no time tracking
  20. GENERAL ESTIMATING RECOS: • Estimate as a team • Develop

    a shared language • Create a routine (intake questionnaire, scoping sessions, agenda for discussions) • Communicate about expectations around scope and deadline, and use that to create estimates
  21. A GOOD PLAN WILL: • Communicate major deliverables • show

    the process by which you will provide deliverables or features • Communicate timing and deadlines • Show dependencies • Show roles and assigments
  22. KNOW YOUR PRODUCT & STAKEHOLDERS: Conduct your own research to

    dig deeper on: • Goals/Outcomes • Partnerships and outlying dependencies • Potential issues and risks
  23. IMPORTANT FACTORS TO DISCUSS: • Product ownership and the decision

    making process • Stakeholder interest/involvement levels • Key outages, meetings, deadlines, and driving factors • Related or similar projects, goals, and outcomes • The best way to communicate with partners and stakeholders
  24. ALWAYS KNOW YOUR TEAM: • Expertise • Interests • Collaboration

    and communication styles • Availability and workload
  25. START 
 ROUGH Sketch and consider: • General process •

    Deliverables • Sign offs/feedback and iteration plans • Resourcing • Deadlines
  26. FORMATTING
 TIPS • Break tasks into sections, or groups of

    tasks • Assign tasks to individuals or groups • Use notes to clarify tasks • Add dependencies • Double-check start and end dates
  27. BE SURE TO
 DISCUSS • Review times • Team work

    times • Dependencies • Time out/off, meetings, milestones • Final deadline • Any assumptions you have made • Major changes since your last talk
  28. ADAPT TO
 CHANGE • Make updates on progress and changes

    regularly • Communicate changes to your team, partners and stakeholders • Communicate risks
  29. THE ROLES OF SCRUM: • Product Owner (Client) • Product

    Manager (Team Lead) • Scrum Master (PM) • Development Team (UX, Design, Dev Teams)
  30. THINGS TO CONSIDER: • Additional stakeholders (and the weight of

    their opinions) • How you will account for feedback • How you will keep clients in the loop regarding risks, issues, budget • Launch dates: Beta? Final?
  31. GET 2 MONTHS TEAMGANTT.COM/ SAVE • Save on Standard or

    Advanced plan • Discount expires after 24hrs. • Use URL below • Must be on a free TeamGantt account to get discount TEAMGANTT.COM /SAVE