1. AGILE ESTIMATION &
RELEASE PLANNING
Alok Guha, CSM

2. PRODUCT BACKLOG

3. ESTIMATE EACH ITEM (PART
1)
How long it is going
to take ?
- 1 hour
- 1 day
- 1 week
- Forever…
T
1

4. ESTIMATE EACH ITEM (PART
2)
is T2 T1Likely to take longer
than
?

5. HOW LONGER ?
=T
2
?
?
?
T1 T1
T1 T1 T1
T1T1T1 T1

6. T2 = 3 TIMES T1 ? MAY BE
YES..
=T
2
?
✔
?
T1 T1
T1 T1 T1
T1T1T1 T1

7. LETS CREATE AN UNIT..
=T1 2
=T2 6
the
n

8. THIS UNIT IS CALLED “STORY
POINTS”
How long a user story will take (effort)
Influenced by complexity, uncertainty, risk, volume of
work, etc
.Relative values are what is important:
 A login screen is a 2.
 A search feature is an 8.
Basic math properties should hold 5+5 = 10

9. TWO BIG ADVANTAGES TO
STORY POINTS
Story points are additive,
time-based estimates may
not be.
Story points help avoid
problems with unit
confusion

10. ESTIMATE EVERY TASK..
5
2 8
5
5
8
2
5

11. YES, YOU SHOULD
ESTIMATES EVERY TASK..
User stories will change anytime.
Everyone estimates… you, me, customer..
Points are not unit of time.
Lets be consistent than accurate.
Your estimates must include uncertainty.
Honesty is still the best policy.

12. LETS PRIORITIZE
5
2 8
3
5
8
2
5

13. VALUE YOUR TASKS..
5
2 8
3
5
8
2
5
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14. ARRANGE 
3
2 85
3
8
2 5
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15. PRIORITIES…
Its very important to consider customer priorities.
And customer is the GOD, who is having final call.
Priorities changes over time.
Technical decencies are not irrelevant.

16. PLANNING POKER
An iterative approach to estimating
Steps
 Each estimator is given a deck of cards, each card has a valid
estimate written on it.
 Customer/Product owner reads a story and it’s discussed briefly.
 Each estimator selects a card that’s his or her estimate.
 Cards are turned at the same time.
 Discuss differences (especially outliers).
 Re-estimate until estimates converge.

17. GENERAL RULES
Planning poker combines expert opinion, analogy, and
disaggregation into an enjoyable approach to estimating
that results in quick but reliable estimates.
Participants in planning poker include all of the
developers on the team Planning Poker.
The product owner / business owner / business analyst
participates in planning poker but does not estimate

18. GENERAL RULES
At the start of planning poker, each estimator is given a
deck of cards.
Each card has written on it one of the valid estimates 0,
½, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, and 100
You may also use a ? And {coffee} card Planning Poker

19. LETS PLAY A GAME !!

20. ESTIMATE THESE..
Product backlog Items Estimate
Read and understand a densely written 5-page research paper
about agile software development in an academic journal.
Your uncle owns a grocery store and now wants to sell over the
internet too. Write a basic product backlog for him covering
what he’ll need his website to do.
Recruit, interview, and hire a new member for your team.
Create a 60-minute presentation about agile software
development for your coworkers.
Wash and wax your boss’ Volkswagen.
Read (and understand) a 150-page book on agile software
development.
Write a 5-page summary of this conference for your Manager

21. ACCESS VELOCITY
Points = Efforts involved
Duration = ?

22. 2
2
2
2
2
2
2
5
3
2
2
8
2
3
1
5
1
5
5
2
2
2
3
2
2
2
3
2
8
2
10 14 16 18 11 17

23. VELOCITY
10 14 16 18 11 17

24. ACCESS VELOCITY
What’s our average
Velocity likely to be?

25. ACCESS VELOCITY
Planned Velocity is useful only until we
have real data - just an educated guess.
“Yesterday’s weather” is more important
than average
Iterations must create production-
quality increments
Velocity is specific for a team.

26. RESOURCE SCHEDULE
Say planned velocity is 9.
Backlog points are 61.
So resource/candidate schedule will be
61/9 = 7 iterations

27. 2
2
1
2
2
8
1
5
1
1
1
1
5
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
5
3
1
9 9 9 11 9 9

28. INSPECT & ADAPT
Plans are not
important, Planning is.

29. RELEASE BURNDOWN CHART

30. CONCLUDING..
This is just a framework - there are multiple variants
The customer is a partner during estimation and
planning
Don’t try to change the world, change your plans 

31. THANKS !! GRACIAS !!