Agile Estimating and Planning

Mike Cohn is the founder of Mountain Goat Software, a process and project management consultancy and training firm. With more than twenty years of experience, Mike has been a technology executive in companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 40s, and is a founding member of the Agile Alliance. He frequently contributes to industry-related magazines and presents regularly at conferences. He is the author of User Stories Applied (Addison-Wesley, 2004).

• About the Author xvii Foreword by Robert C. Martin xix Foreword by Jim Highsmith xxi Foreword by Gabrielle Benefield xxv Acknowledgments xxvii Introduction xxix Part I: The Problem and the Goal 1 Chapter 1: The Purpose of Planning 3 Why Do It? 5What Makes a Good Plan? 8What Makes Planning Agile? 9Summary 10Discussion Questions 10Chapter 2: Why Planning Fails 11 Planning Is by Activity Rather Than Feature 12Multitasking Causes Further Delays 15Features Are Not Developed by Priority 17We Ignore Uncertainty 17Estimates Become Commitments 18Summary 18Discussion Questions 19Chapter 3: An Agile Approach 21 An Agile Approach to Projects 23An Agile Approach to Planning 27Summary 31 Discussion Questions 32 Part II: Estimating Size 33 Chapter 4: Estimating Size with Story Points 35 Story Points Are Relative 36 Velocity 38 Summary 40 Discussion Questions 41 Chapter 5: Estimating in Ideal Days 43 Ideal Time and Software Development 44 Ideal Days as a Measure of Size 46One Estimate, Not Many 46 Summary 47 Discussion Questions 47 Chapter 6: Techniques for Estimating 49 Estimates Are Shared 51 The Estimation Scale 52 Deriving an Estimate 54 Planning Poker 56 Why Planning Poker Works 59Summary 60 Discussion Questions 60 Chapter 7: Re-Estimating 61 Introducing the SwimStats Website 61 When Not to Re-Estimate 62 When to Re-Estimate 64 Re-Estimating Partially Completed Stories 66 The Purpose of Re-Estimating 67 Summary 67 Discussion Questions 67 Chapter 8: Choosing between Story Points and Ideal Days 69 Considerations Favoring Story Points 69 Considerations Favoring Ideal Days 72Recommendation 73 Summary 74Discussion Questions 75Part III: Planning for Value 77 Chapter 9: Prioritizing Themes 79 Factors in Prioritization 80Combining the Four Factors 86Some Examples 86Summary 88Discussion Questions 89Chapter 10: Financial Prioritization 91 Sources of Return 93An Example: WebPayroll 96Financial Measures 102Comparing Returns 108Summary 109Discussion Questions 109Chapter 11: Prioritizing Desirability 111 Kano Model of Customer Satisfaction 112Relative Weighting: Another Approach 117Summary 119Discussion Questions 120Chapter 12: Splitting User Stories 121 When to Split a User Story 121Splitting across Data Boundaries 122Splitting on Operational Boundaries 124Removing Cross-Cutting Concerns 125Don't Meet Performance Constraints 126Split Stories of Mixed Priority 127Don't Split a Story into Tasks 127Avoid the Temptation of Related Changes 128Combining Stories 128Summary 129Discussion Questions 129Part IV: Scheduling 131 Chapter 13: Release Planning Essentials 133 The Release Plan 134 Updating the Release Plan 138 An Example 139 Summary 142 Discussion Questions 143 Chapter 14: Iteration Planning 145 Tasks Are Not Allocated During Iteration Planning 147How Iteration and Release Planning Differ 148 Velocity-Driven Iteration Planning 149 Commitment-Driven Iteration Planning 158My Recommendation 162 Relating Task Estimates to Story Points 163Summary 165 Discussion Questions 166 Chapter 15: Selecting an Iteration Length 167 Factors in Selecting an Iteration Length 167Making a Decision 171 Two Case Studies 173 Summary 175 Discussion Questions 176 Chapter 16: Estimating Velocity 177 Use Historical Values 178 Run an Iteration 179Make a Forecast 181Which Approach Should I Use? 185 Summary 186 Discussion Questions 186 Chapter 17: Buffering Plans for Uncertainty 187 Feature Buffers 188 Schedule Buffers 189Combining Buffers 198 A Schedule Buffer Is Not Padding 199 Some Caveats 199Summary 200 Discussion Questions 201Chapter 18: Planning the Multiple-Team Project 203 Establishing a Common Basis for Estimates 204 Adding Detail to User Stories Sooner 205 Lookahead Planning 206 Incorporating Feeding Buffers into the Plan 208 But This Is So Much Work 210Summary 210 Discussion Questions 211 Part V: Tracking and Communicating 213 Chapter 19: Monitoring the Release Plan 215 Tracking the Release 216 Release Burndown Charts 219A Parking-Lot Chart 224 Summary 225 Discussion Questions 226Chapter 20: Monitoring the Iteration Plan 227 The Task Board 227Iteration Burndown Charts 230 Tracking Effort Expended 231 Individual Velocity 232 Summary 232 Discussion Questions 233 Chapter 21: Communicating about Plans 235 Communicating the Plan 237 Communicating Progress 238 An End-of-Iteration Summary 241Summary 244 Discussion Questions 245Part VI: Why Agile Planning Works 247 Chapter 22: Why Agile Planning Works 249 Replanning Occurs Frequently 249 Estimates of Size and Duration Are Separated 250 Plans Are Made at Different Levels 251 Plans Are Based on Features, Not Tasks 252 Small Stories Keep Work Flowing 252 Work in Process Is Eliminated Every Iteration 252Tracking Is at the Team Level 253Uncertainty Is Acknowledged and Planned For 253A Dozen Guidelines for Agile Estimating and Planning 254Summary 256Discussion Questions 257Part VII: A Case Study 259 Chapter 23: A Case Study: Bomb Shelter Studios 261 Day 1—Monday Morning 262Estimating the User Stories 270Preparing for Product Research 281Iteration and Release Planning, Round 1 284Two Weeks Later 302Planning the Second Iteration 303Two Weeks Later 305Revising the Release Plan 305Presenting the Revised Plan to Phil 308Eighteen Weeks Later 312Reference List 313 Index 319