#204: Estimation - Professionalism

This episode is a wrap-up for a mini-series looking at estimation in software development - recapping the guidelines I provided in Episode 189 and providing some additional tips that didn't have a home elsewhere in the series. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/205 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

In this episode, the penultimate episode in the Software Estimation mini-series, I want to discuss how Software Estimation works in terms of professionalism - and in many cases, surprisingly, the professional response is not to provide an estimate. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/204 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In this episode, I ask the question, is AI the answer? Following on from the episodes on Qualitative and Quantitative approaches, it's easy to see there are pros and cons to individual practices. And realistically, it feels like you will need a blend of various approaches to create truly valuable estimates. But, this all seems like a lot of work and investment, a lot of training, tools and time to achieve. And even more so to iteratively improve to nudge towards those valuable estimates. As I'll say many times in this series, producing estimates costs. Producing valuable estimates costs a lot. Thus, it doesn't take much of a leap of logic to ask the question, can AI help us here? In an ideal world, there would be an AI-powered tool that would just do the work for us. Thus, I explore how such a tool could come into being, and probably more importantly, why I doubt it will happen any time soon. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/203 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development.In the last couple of episodes, I've looked at a number of methods that fall under the Qualitative approach to software estimation.Qualitative estimation is predominantly based on expert judgment, some think based on subjective thought process.In this week's episode, I want to move on to discuss some Quantitative estimation approaches.While Qualitative estimation is predominantly based on expert judgement, Quantitative is based on something we can count or calculate, a use of statistical analysis based on historical data.In this episode, I specifically want to discuss two quantitative techniques - Monte Carlo simulations and Statistical PERT (or SPERT for short).-----Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/202Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In last week's episode, I looked at a number of methods that fall under the Qualitative approach to software estimation. Qualitative estimation is predominantly based on expert judgment, something based on subjective thought process. In this episode I wanted to take a specific look at another method I personally consider a qualitative approach But it's so different to those discussed in the last episode, I felt it needed its own, the #NoEstimate approach ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/201 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In last week's episode, I introduced two approaches to software estimation, Qualitative and Quantitative estimation. Qualitative estimation is predominantly based on expert judgment, something based on subjective thought process. Whereas Quantitative is based on something we count or calculate. A use of statistical analysis based on historical data. In this episode, I want to dive deeper into the Qualitative and look at some specific practices. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/200 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In this episode, I wanted to look at practical methods to help develop the team's estimation skills. We cannot expect valuable estimation without investment. It's like any skill, it has to be practiced and refined to obtain a good level of proficiency. So in this episode, I want to take a look at two approaches to estimation - Qualitative and Quantitative. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/199 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In this episode, I wanted to highlight the emotional baggage that you developers may associate with estimation, and through no fault of your own, will carry that baggage into future estimation work. In the episode, I look at the psychological scarring left behind from decades of using estimates as punitive targets. Like most experienced developers, I've worked in organisations that turn estimates into punitive targets - where a well-meaning estimate has been turned into a commitment, and ultimately, a stick to beat the team with. Now that stick has ranged from the aggressive to the passive, be it threats of dismissal or simply discussing the failure to hit the estimate. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/198 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In this episode, I wanted to look at the impact that dependencies have on software estimation. This episode was inspired by a blog post on scrum.org entitled "Eliminate Dependencies, Don't Manage Them", which I read while preparing this series. In brief, the article talks about how you're better off eliminating dependencies rather than trying to manage them through normal traditional management processes. In his book, Software Estimation, Demystifying the Black Art, Steve McConnell says that size of the software is the single most significant contributor to project effort and schedule. Personally, I'd like to suggest that dependencies, if not of similar importance, are a close second. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/197 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap

This episode is part of a wider mini-series looking at Estimation in Software Development. In this episode, I want to encourage you to mentally separate estimation and planning. They are often conflated, which leads to confusion, distrust and dysfunctional behavior. An estimate is generally part of a plan, and a plan can be the outcome of the act of planning. Software development can't be delivered without planning, even if it's only the most cursory of activities. Software development can be delivered without an estimate. ----- Find this episodes show notes at: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/196 Have an idea for an episode topic, or want to see what is coming up: https://red-folder.com/podcasts/roadmap