Agile Estimation and Planning for the Waterfalic Project Manager

Manoj Vadakkan (please note: event now 8/26)

Suppose you are in a traditional organization that operates under a PMO with their phase gates, and that you are trying to sell an Agile approach to your management. Your organization may be using a complicated tool that is used to estimate your Software Development work. Telling them about an estimation model that uses gummy bears as your estimation units may not get you many buyers. You might have to come up with equally or even more complicated looking excel spreadsheet. 

Many traditional organizations have some type of estimation tool that uses historical information and a set of complex calculation to estimate software development projects. Frequently, a Project Manager or a Technical Lead by themselves come up with an estimate using such a tool. Most of the time, the tool is used to estimate the technical work involved and then extrapolate the rest of the project work to create the total estimated cost of the project. How well this estimation model works is debatable. Estimation and Planning in an Agile environment takes a completely different approach. To begin with it is the team, not the independent-acting Project Manager or the Lead, creating the estimates.  

Estimation and Planning for Agile projects is a subject that is covered in many different places. The aspects usually covered are user stories, estimating in story points, and release planning. This presentation will cover these basics so as to bring all attendees to the same page. In addition, this presentation will cover how to create a cost estimate, staffing plan and the like that an organization needs to plan for their work. During this presentation, we will go thru an example to create and estimate user stories using story points. We will estimate a representative set of stories in detail so that we can estimate a velocity and finally come up with a range of release dates and cost estimates. We will use a simple template to help us with the process. It needs to be emphasized that it is the interaction among the team members that is important than the template.

Speaker Bio

Manoj Vadakkan is an IT professional with close to two decades of experience in various aspects of software development and delivery. He is passionate about transitioning the world of work using Agile principles and practices. His expertise includes Project Leadership, Project Management, Business Analysis, Coaching, and Training. His experience includes various development frameworks  including Agile/Scrum, RUP, and Waterfall. In the past he has worked as a software developer, Team leader, and Project Manager. He currently works as an Agile Coach/Release Manager for CGI Federal at Fairfax, VA.

For more info: http://www.linkedin.com/in/manojvp