Index
A
Accuracy of estimates
vs. effort, 49–51
in large estimates, 53
in levels, 251
Action items in iteration reviews, 244
Activities
dependency of, 14–15
planning by, 12–15
work expansion for, 12
Adaptation by teams, 26–27
Adequate results, 49–50
Aggregate estimates, 46–47
Agile approach, 21–22
description of, 9–10
discussion questions, 32
to planning, 27–31
to projects, 23–27
success factors, 249
discussion questions, 257
estimate separation, 250–251, 254
feature-based plans vs. task-based, 252
guidelines, 254–256
levels, 251
replanning frequency, 249–250
story size, 252
summary, 256
team level tracking, 253
uncertainty handling, 253–255
work in process elimination, 252–253
summary, 31–32
Agile Manifesto, 21
Analogy, estimating by, 55
Analysts
in multiple-team projects, 205
in planning poker, 57
Armour, Phillip, 18
Assessing themes on Kano Model, 114–116
Average velocity, 239–240
B
Baker, Simon, 171
Bar charts, release burndown, 221–224
Bernstein, Leonard, 43
Bills, Mark, 93
Bohr, Niels, 49
Bomb Shelter Studios case study. See Case study
Bossi, Piergiuliano, 183
Brehmer, B., 59
Budget buffers, 198
Buffering plans, 187–188
caveats for, 199–200
combining buffers in, 198–199
discussion questions, 201
for features, 188–189
guidelines for, 197
vs. padding, 199
for schedules, 189–190
sizing in, 194–197
summary, 200
for uncertainty, 190–194
Buffers, feeding, 208–210
Bugs
iteration planning for, 154
task boards for, 230
Burndown charts
iteration, 230–231
release, 219–224
Burnup, 220
Business priorities, focus on, 25–26
Business value, 80–81
C
Cards in planning poker, 56–59
Carpenter, Mary Chapin, 215
Case study, 261–262
iteration planning in
first, 285–292
second, 303–305
iteration review
first, 301–303
second, 305
final, 312–313
product description in, 262–270
product research preparation in, 281–284
release plans
creating, 292–301
presenting, 308–312
revising, 305–308
user stories for, 270–281
Categorization, response, 116–117
CHAOS studies, 6
Chronometers in navigation, 215
Churchill, Winston, 227
Cirillo, Francesco, 183
Clark, Kim. B, 15–16
Clocks in navigation, 215
Collaborative estimating, 204–205
Combining
buffers, 198–199
user stories, 128–129
Commitment-driven iteration planning, 149, 158–162
Commitments from estimates, 18
Common basis for estimates, 204–205
Communication, 235
discussion questions, 245
end-of-iteration summaries for, 241–244
importance of, 235–236
of plans, 237–238
summary, 244–245
Conditions of satisfaction, 29
in planning, 29–31
in release plans, 135–136
in SwimStats website, 139–140
Cone of uncertainty, 3–4, 10, 17, 178–181, 186
Contents and Assessment section in end-of-iteration summaries, 244
Context section in end-of-iteration summaries, 241
Contract negotiation, valuing, 22
Cooperative games, 22
Corkboards for monitoring iteration plans, 227
Corso, Gregory, 111
Cost
development, 100–101
in infrastructure prioritization, 87
in iteration length determination, 170
in theme prioritization, 81–82, 84
Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations, 124–125
Crosscutting concerns, 125–126
Cross-functional behavior, story points for, 70
Cross-functional teams, 59
CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations, 124–125
Cunningham, Ward, 27
collaboration by, 22
duties of, 23–24
satisfying, Kano Model for, 112–114
response categorization in, 116–117
theme assessment on, 114–116
Cycle time, 252
D
Daily planning, 29
Data boundaries, splitting user stories across, 122–124
Date-driven projects, 136–137
Dates in release plans, 137–138
Days of week in iteration planning, 165
Dead reckoning, 215
Decay in story point estimates, 70–71
Decision making support, 6–7
Defects, iteration planning for, 154
Definitive estimates, 4
DeGrace, Peter, 171
Delays
from dependencies, 14–15
from multitasking, 15–16
Delighters, 112–114
Deliveries in iterations, 24–25
DeLuca, Jeff, 224
DeMarco, Tom, 91
Dependencies
of activities, 14–15
delays from, 14–16
in iteration planning, 154–156
minimizing, 25
Deriving
duration, 39
estimates, 54–56
Design
in iteration planning, 157–158
user interface, 87–88
Desirability, prioritizing, 111
discussion questions, 120
Kano Model of customer satisfaction, 112-117
relative weighting, 117–119
summary, 119–120
Detail for user stories, 205
Developers
duties of, 24
in planning poker, 56
Development cost estimates, 100–101
Diminishing returns on estimating, 49–51
Disaggregation in estimating, 55–56
Disciplines in planning poker, 59
Discounted payback period, 107–108
Discounting, 102
Discussion in planning poker, 58
Distributions
of completion times, 191–192
of iteration planning times, 164–165
Documentation, valuing, 22
DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method), 189
Duration estimates
deriving, 39
in ideal days. See Ideal days
size estimates separated from, 250–251, 254
Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), 189
Dysfunctional form in Kano Model, 114–116
E
Efficiencies, operational
in financial prioritization, 94–95
in WebPayroll example, 98–99
Effort
vs. estimate accuracy, 49–51
tracking, 231–232
Elaboration of plans, 28
Elapsed time vs. ideal days, 43–45
End-of-iteration summaries
Contents and Assessment section, 244
Context section, 241
Metrics section, 242–243
Personnel section, 241–242
End of quarter iteration alignment, 175
End uncertainty, 82–83
Envelopes in planning poker, 59
Estimates, 3
accuracy of
vs. effort, 49–51
in large estimates, 53
in levels, 251
aggregate, 46–47
buffering plans for. See Buffering plans
collaborative, 204–205
commitments from, 18
of duration
deriving, 39
in ideal days. See Ideal days
size estimates separated from, 250–251, 254
in multiple-team projects, 204–205
re-estimating. See Re-estimating
of size, 33–34
duration estimates separated from, 250-251, 254
with story points. See Story points
techniques, 49–51
analogy, 55
derivations, 54–56
disaggregation, 55–56
discussion questions, 60
planning poker, 56–59
scales, 52–53
shared, 51–52
summary, 60
user stories, epics, and themes, 53–54
of velocity. See Velocity
Evaluation apprehension, 231
Excel spreadsheets for IRR calculations, 105
Exciters, 112–114
Expanding stories, 183
Expert opinions
for estimates, 54–55
in planning poker, 56
Explaining ideal days, 73
F
Facts, planning based on, 256
Failure factors in planning, 11
activities vs. features, 12–15
discussion questions, 19
estimates becoming commitments, 18
feature development priority, 17
multitasking, 15–16
summary, 18–19
uncertainty, 17–18
Feature breakdown structures, 237–238
Feature-driven projects, 136–137
Features
vs. activities, 12–15
in buffering plans, 188–189
in infrastructure prioritization, 87
in planning, 252
size of, 255
Feedback, 22
in iteration length determination, 169–170
in iteration reviews, 150
in planning, 31
in user interface design, 88
Feeding buffers, 208–210
Fibonacci sequences, 52
Fight or flight instinct, 231
Financial prioritization, 91
discussion questions, 109
financial measures, 102
in business value, 81
comparing returns, 108
discounted payback period, 107–108
internal rate of return, 104–106
net present value, 103–104
payback period in, 106–107
resources for, 108
time value of money, 102
incremental revenue in, 94
new revenue in, 93–94
operational efficiencies in, 94–95
retained revenue in, 94
summary, 109
theme-return worksheets for, 92–93
in WebPayroll, 96–101
Focus on business priorities, 25–26
Forecasts for velocity estimates, 181–182
Four-week iterations, 172
Fowler, Martin, 151
Fully burdened labor costs, 99
Functional form in Kano Model, 114–116
Functionality risk, 84
G
Games
case study. See Case study
cooperative, 22
planning poker, 56–59
Ganssle, Jack, 182
Gantt charts
for activities, 12–13
for communication, 237–238
task focus in, 252
Gilb, Tom, 84
Githens, Greg, 249
Goals
and iteration length, 175
in iteration planning, 151–152
Gold-plating, 13
Goldratt, Eliyahu M., 194
Good plans, 8–9
Goodman project, 174
Graf von Moltke, Helmuth, 3, 11
Grenning, James, 56
Griffen, Abbie, 114
Guidelines
for buffering plans, 197
for planning, 254–256
H
Hagafors, R., 59
Hauser, John R., 114
Highsmith, Jim
on features, 252
on project manager roles, 24
Historical values
for elapsed time, 44
for velocity estimates, 178–179
Hobbs, Charles, 45
Hoest, Martin, 59
Holidays, 242
Holmes, Sherlock, 145
Honest communication, 236
Hours available estimates, 182
Hunt, Andrew, 128
I
advantages of, 72–73
ease in estimating, 73
explaining, 73
as measure of size, 46
relativity in, 72
in software development, 44–46
vs. story points, 73–74
for velocity predictions, 73
In Process column in task boards, 229
Incomplete stories in velocity measurements, 217–218
Incremental revenue
in financial prioritization, 94
in WebPayroll example, 97
Individual commitments in iteration planning, 161
Individuals
valuing, 21
velocity tracking of, 232
Infrastructure prioritization factors, 86–87
Inspection by teams, 26–27
Interaction designers in multiple-team projects, 205
Interactions, valuing, 21
Interface design, 87–88
Internal Rate of Return (IRR), 104–106
Interruptions, 45
IRR (internal rate of return), 104–106
Iteration burndown charts, 230–231
Iteration length, 167
deciding on, 171–172
discussion questions, 176
end of quarter alignment with, 175
factors in, 167–168
feedback, 169–170
overhead costs, 170
priority changes, 169–170
release length, 168
uncertainty, 168
urgency, 170–171
in Goodman project, 174
in Napa project, 173–174
in release plans, 136
summary, 175–176
in SwimStats website, 140–141
Iteration planning, 145–147
first, 285–292
second, 303–305
commitment-driven, 158–162
discussion questions, 166
goals in, 151–152
in levels of planning, 29
monitoring. See Monitoring
priority adjustments in, 150–151
recommendations for, 162–163
relating task estimates to story points, 163–165
vs. release planning, 148–149
summary, 165–166
target velocity in, 151
task allocation in, 147–148
task estimates in, 156–158
velocity-driven, 149–150
Iteration reviews
in case study
first, 301–303
second, 305
final, 312–313
in end-of-iteration summaries, 244
for priority adjustments, 150–151
Iterations
deliveries in, 24–25
knowledge incorporated in, 26
length of. See Iteration length
in multiple-team projects, 207
planning. See Iteration planning
on release burndown charts, 219–224
reviews. See Iteration reviews
for uncertainty, 17
work in process elimination in, 252–253
J
Jeffries, Ron, 237
Juicy bits, 84
Just-in-time requirements approach, 26
Justifying estimates, planning poker for, 59
K
Kano, Noriaki, 112
Kano Model of customer satisfaction, 112–114
response categorization in, 116–117
theme assessment on, 114–116
Kennedy, Michael N., 182
Kernighan, Brian, 126
Keyboard entry in iteration planning, 146–147
Keynes, John Maynard, 177
Knowledge
incorporated in iterations, 26
for prioritizing themes, 82–84
for products and projects, 27
L
LaFasto, Frank M. J., 159
Large projects. See Multiple-team projects
Larson, Carl E., 159
Lateness, passed down, 13–14
Latitude in navigation, 215
Learning, importance of, 255
Lederer, Albert L., 11, 51, 55, 157, 231
Levels of planning, 28–29, 251, 254
Linear feature in Kano Model, 112–114
Lister, Timothy, 91
Loading to full capacity, 16
Local safety estimates, 193–194
Longitude in navigation, 215
Lookahead planning, 206–207, 256
M
Macomber, Hal, 27
Maintenance in iteration planning, 161–162
Malotaux, Niels, 170
Margins of safety. See Buffering plans
MARR (minimum attractive rate of return), 104
McConnell, Steve, 3
Mean velocity, 239–240
Means uncertainty, 82–83
Meetings
in iteration planning, 154
iteration reviews. See Iteration reviews
Metrics section in end-of-iteration summaries, 242–243
Minimum attractive rate of return (MARR), 104
Miranda, Eduardo, 52
Mixed priority, splitting user stories of, 127
Moderators in planning poker, 57
Moløkken, Kjetil, 59
Money, time value of, 102
Monitoring
iteration plans
discussion questions, 233
effort expended, 231–232
individual velocity, 232
iteration burndown charts for, 230–231
summary, 232–233
task boards in, 227–230
release plans, 215–216
discussion questions, 226
parking-lot charts for, 224–225
release burndown charts for, 219–224
summary, 225–226
tracking releases, 216–217
velocity, 217–218
MoSCoW rules for prioritization, 189
Multiple buffers, 198–199
Multiple-team projects, 203–204
common basis for estimates in, 204–205
discussion questions, 211
extra work for, 210
feeding buffers in, 208–210
lookahead planning in, 206–207
summary, 210–211
user stories in, 205
Multipliers for velocity estimates, 180
Multitasking
delays from, 15–16
and ideal days, 45
Must-have features, 112–113
N
Napa project, 173–174
Navigation, nautical, 215–217
Negotiations, valuing, 22
Net Present Value (NPV), 103–104
New knowledge
in infrastructure prioritization, 87
in theme prioritization, 82–84
New revenue
in financial prioritization, 93–94
in WebPayroll example, 96–97
Newbold, Robert C., 195
Nightly Build Results in end-of-iteration summaries, 242
Nonaka, Ikujiro, 171
Nonlinear sequences, 52
Note cards in iteration planning, 145–147
NPV (net present value), 103–104
O
Observed velocity, 179–181
One-week iterations, 171–172
Operational boundaries, splitting user stories on, 124–125
Operational efficiencies
in financial prioritization, 94–95
in WebPayroll example, 98–99
Opportunity costs, 102
Optimal solutions, planning for, 5
Orders of magnitude in estimates, 4, 52
Overhead costs, 170
P
Padding vs. buffers, 199
Parking-lot charts, 224–225
Partially completed work
re-estimating for, 66–67
in velocity measurements, 217–218
Parton, Dolly, 35
Patton, George S.
on choices, 69
on plans, 21
Payback period
discounted, 107–108
in financial measures, 106–107
Peering forward, 207
Penalties in relative weighting, 118–119
Performance constraints, 126–127
Personnel section in end-of-iteration summaries, 241–242
Perspectives, levels for, 251
PERT charts, 252
Planning
agile approach to, 27–31
buffering. See Buffering plans
communication for. See Communication
conditions of satisfaction in, 29–31
failures. See Failure factors in planning
good, 8–9
iteration. See Iteration planning
purpose of, 3–5
conveying information, 8
decision making support, 6–7
discussion questions, 10
risk reduction, 5–6
summary, 10
trust establishment, 7–8
uncertainty reduction, 6
release. See Release plans
Planning poker, 56–57
discussion for, 58
need for, 58–59
session size in, 58
success of, 59
Plauger, P. J., 126
PMI (Project Management Institute) on estimates, 4
Pomodori, 183
Poppendieck, Mary
on features, 121
on planning, 203
on queueing, 252
Poppendieck, Tom, 252
Portfolio planning, 29
Prasad, Jayesh, 11, 51, 55, 157, 231
Precision
vs. effort, 49–51
in large estimates, 53
in levels, 251
Present value, 102
Priestley, Joseph, 235
Priorities and prioritizing
business, 25–26
desirability, 111
discussion questions, 120
Kano Model of customer satisfaction, 112–117
relative weighting, 117–119
summary, 119–120
in feature development, 17, 255–256
financial. See Financial prioritization
in iteration length determination, 169–170
in iteration planning, 150–151
in release burndown charts, 223
themes, 79–80
business value in, 80–81
combining factors in, 86
discussion questions, 89
examples, 86
factors in, 80
infrastructure, 86–87
new knowledge in, 82–84
risk in, 84–86
summary, 88–89
user interface design, 87–88
user stories in release plans, 137, 141
Processes, valuing, 21
Product owners
and conditions of satisfaction, 30
duties of, 23
in planning poker, 57
Productivity, multitasking effect on, 15–16
Products
planning, 29
research preparation for, 281–284
Progress, communication of, 238–240, 255
Progressive accuracy of estimates, 4, 250
Progressive elaboration of plans, 28
Project Management Institute (PMI) on estimates, 4
Project managers, duties of, 24
Projects
agile approach to, 23–27
knowledge increases for, 27
multiple-team. See Multiple-team projects
new knowledge for, 82
staffing profile of, 7
Q
Quarterly revenue goals, 175
Queuing theory, 252
R
Range of velocities
in estimates, 184
in progress reports, 239
Re-estimating, 61
discussion questions, 67
inappropriate, 62–63
purpose of, 67
summary, 67
user stories in, 64–67
Reducing
risk, 5–6
Reference list, 315–320
Reinertsen, Donald G., 195
Related changes in splitting user stories, 128
Relative size changes, re-estimating for, 65
Relative weighting approach, 117–119
Relativity
in ideal days, 72
in story points, 36–38
Release burndown charts, 219–224
Release plans, 133–134
in case study
creating, 292–301
presenting, 308–312
revising, 305–308
conditions of satisfaction in, 135–136
discussion questions, 143
vs. iteration plans, 148–149
in levels of planning, 28–29
monitoring. See Monitoring
in multiple-team projects, 207
steps in, 134–135
summary, 142–143
updating, 138–139
user stories in
example, 139–142
velocity estimates in, 136
Response categorization in Kano Model, 116-117
Retained revenue
in financial prioritization, 94
in WebPayroll example, 97–98
Return on Investment or (ROI), 104–106
Revenue
in financial prioritization, 93–94
in WebPayroll example, 96–98
Revenue goals and iteration length, 175
Rising, Linda, 158
Risk
in prioritizing
infrastructure, 87
themes, 84–86
user interface design, 88
reducing, 5–6
Risk-value relationship, 85
ROI (Return on Investment), 104–106
Rolling lookahead plans, 207
Russell, Bertrand, 167
S
Saaty, Thomas, 52
Safety margins. See Buffering plans
Sailor navigation, 215–217
Sanders, G. S., 231
Satisfaction
conditions of, 29
in planning, 29–31
in release plans, 135–136
in SwimStats website, 139–140
customer, Kano Model for, 112–114
response categorization in, 116–117
theme assessment in, 114–116
Scales, estimation, 52–53
Schedule risk, 84
Schedules
buffering plans for, 189–190
lateness passed down, 13–14
Schulman, E. L., 231
Scrum process, 171
Session size in planning poker, 58
Shared estimates, 51–52
Short iterations, 24
6x2+1 iteration cycles, 172
Size
of buffers
feeding, 209–210
project, 194–197
estimating, 33–34
duration estimates separated from, 250-251, 254
in ideal days. See Ideal days
with story points. See Story points
of features, 255
of tasks, 158
of user stories, 252
Slack, providing, 256
Sources of financial return, 93–95
Specificity in iteration planning, 153–154
Speed of story point estimates, 71–72
Spike tasks, 156
Splitting user stories, 121
appropriateness of, 121–122
cross-cutting concerns in, 125–126
across data boundaries, 122–124
discussion questions, 129
of mixed priority, 127
on operational boundaries, 124–125
performance constraints in, 126–127
related changes in, 128
summary, 129
Spreadsheets for IRR calculations, 105
Square Root of the Sum of the Squares approach, 196
Staffing profile of projects, 7
Stahl, Leslie, 171
Steady rhythm, 171
Stein, Ben, 79
Story points, 35
advantages of, 69
for cross-functional behavior, 70
decay in, 70–71
vs. ideal days, 73–74
in iteration planning, 163–165
as measure of size, 71
on parking-lot charts, 224–225
relative, 36–38
on release burndown charts, 219–224
speed of estimating, 71–72
task estimates related to, 163–165
for velocity, 38–40
Strategic planning, 29
Student syndrome, 194
Summing estimates, 160
SwimStats website, 61–62
iteration planning in, 145–147, 151–156
lookahead planning in, 206–207
re-estimating for. See Re-estimating
release plans for, 139–142
velocity estimates for, 141, 183–185
T
Takeuchi, Hirotaka, 171
Target velocity in iteration planning, 151
Task boards in monitoring iteration plans, 227-230
Tasks
in planning, 147–148, 156–160, 163–165, 252
size for, 158
splitting user stories into, 127–128, 152-156
Team owners for conditions of satisfaction, 30
Teams
business priorities focus on, 25–26
for cross-functional behavior, 70
deliveries by, 24–25
inspection and adaptation by, 26–27
involvement of, 254
in iteration planning, 159–160
in planning poker, 59
short iterations for, 24
tracking, 253
working as one, 23–24
Tests Ready column in task boards, 229
Tests Specified column in task boards, 229
Theme-return worksheets, 92–93
Themes, 54
on Kano Model, 114–116
prioritizing. See Priorities and prioritizing
Thomas, David, 128
Threshold features in Kano Model, 112–113
Throw it over the wall mentality, 23
Time available estimates, 182–183
Time distribution in iteration planning, 164–165
Time value of money, 102
Timeboxes, 24
To Do column in task boards, 229
To Verify column in task boards, 229
Tracking. See Monitoring
Tradeoff decisions, 7
Triangulation, 55
Trust
communication for, 236
establishing, 7–8
Two-week iterations, 172
U
Uncertainty
buffering plans for. See Buffering plans
cone of, 3–4, 10, 17, 178–181, 186
ignoring, 17–18
in iteration length determination, 168
new knowledge for, 82–83
planning for, 253–255
reducing, 6
Unfinished work in velocity measurements, 217–218
Updating release plans, 138–139
Urgency in iteration length determination, 170-171
User interface design, 87–88
User stories
aggregate estimates for, 46–47
for case study, 270–281
combining, 128–129
estimating, 53–54
expanding, 183
in iteration planning, 152–156, 159
in multiple-team projects, 205
in planning poker, 59
for priority focus, 25–26
in re-estimating, 64–67
in release plans
example, 139–142
size of, 252
splitting. See Splitting user stories
story points for. See Story points
Users
feedback from, 88
role of, 24
V
Value
adding, 153
business, 80–81
financial. See Financial prioritization
Van Schooenderwoert, Nancy J., 27
Velocity
as equalizer, 63–64
estimates for, 177
deciding on method, 185–186
discussion questions, 186
forecasts for, 181–182
historical values for, 178–179
ideal days for, 73
ranges for, 184
in release plans, 136
story expansion for, 183
summary, 186
in SwimStats website, 141, 183–185
test iterations for, 179–181
time available estimates for, 182–183
variations in, 184–185
for estimation errors, 39–40
individual, 232
monitoring, 217–218
in progress reports, 238–239
on release burndown charts, 222
story points for, 38–40
Velocity-driven iteration planning, 149–150
goals in, 151–152
priorities in, 150–151
target velocity in, 151
tasks in, 156–158
user stories in, 152–156
Verbal communication for user stories, 26
Vicinanza, S., 55
Von Neumann, John, 61
W
WebPayroll example, 96
combining factors in, 101
development cost estimates in, 100–101
incremental revenue in, 97
new revenue in, 96–97
operational efficiencies in, 98–99
retained revenue in, 97–98
Weighting, relative, 117–119
Weinberg, Gerald M., 231
Wheelwright, Steven C., 15–16
Whiteboards in monitoring iteration plans, 227
Wiegers, Karl, 117
Wohlin, Claes, 59
Work breakdown structures, 252
Work in process
elimination of, 252–253
in velocity measurements, 217–218
Workers for estimates, 157
Working software, valuing, 22
Y
Yesterday’s weather, 151
Z
Zeros in estimates, 53