Estimates Q&A: Points, Man-hours, and “reality factors”

What’s the deal with story points and agile estimation techniques, and why can’t we just improve our estimates over time?  That’s part of the question that a friend of mine asked recently, and I’m going to respond to it in this blog post. My...

Speaking at #InnovateVA2011 Sept 16th

The Innovate Virginia conference will be held in Richmond, Virginia, on Friday September 16th, and I am proud to be one of the speakers there.  It will be an excellent one-day conference bringing together many excellent speakers in a cost effective and local setting...

#AgileCville recap: Agile for Newbies

This past Tuesday at AgileCville we had a series of lightning talks on “Agile for Newbies.”  The meeting went very well, and I’ll provide a brief recap of it here. Thanks go to RallySoftware, who sponsored the meeting this month and provided pizza,...

5 Tips to prevent your estimates from becoming a burden

Have you ever been asked for a rough estimate, and then later regretted giving a “rough” estimate because the customer tried to hold you to it? A familiar story This week I spoke with an agile coaching colleague of mine, and he relayed a story that rang...