7 Estimation Anti-Patterns
And How to Fix Them
Estimation is a loaded topic in software development. It is where many anti-patterns in a company come together. Developers often suffer from the mechanics that come to play with estimation.
Here are 7 estimation anti-patterns and also how you could fix them. Fair warning: in most cases, there are no easy answers.
Estimates because “We have to”
Not all work can be estimated easily. There’s even work that can’t be estimated at all.
Sure, when a topic is similar to something you did before, you have a reference. This will help you to make grounded estimates. And also, when work is quite clear-cut, you will typically have no problems estimating.
But there are other situations too. When you don’t know what to do to finish the work, things start to get messy. You may not have the experience in the team to understand the magnitude of the work. Or you may face a problem you never saw before. In both cases, you may not be able to estimate at all.
Despite the fact that too many things are unknown to come up with an estimate, very often teams still decide to estimate anyway. Because all work has to be estimated. So that all work can be planned.
