It’s a tale as old as software engineering.
Plans for a new feature are being discussed.
The user need is clear. The business is on board. The engineers are excited by the challenge.
Then the inevitable question arises.
“How long do you think it will take?”
Welcome to the estimation game. There are many ways to play.
Story points. T-shirt sizes. Burn-down charts. Estimation poker.
It almost sounds like fun.
The problem is, the game is rigged.
It takes a lot of time, energy, and attention from a bunch of different people. Yet everyone seems to lose.
Engineers feel frustrated at being asked to guess how long an essentially creative act might take.
They’re resentful when their protestations are ignored.
Then they get cynical and jaded when things take longer than expected.
PMs and execs feel frustrated that they can’t get a simple answer to help them plan and balance the myriad of concerns they’re juggling.
They get resentful that the engineers seem to be in a world of their own, with little care about the fact the marketing campaign needs a final sign-off.
Then they get cynical and jaded that everything takes longer than expected.
Sounding familiar? You’ve played this before, right?
Maybe it’s time for a new game.