Estimation Game - Cup of Tea
Goal: 🥅
This game is designed to get everyone talking about estimating how long it takes to complete a task in your project.
Materials: 📝
Sticky notes
Pen
Or a virtual whiteboard if you're working online
Instructions: ☕️🫖
Ask everyone to estimate how long it takes to make a cup of tea and then have them answer some questions:
What did they make?
Where were they?
Who did they make it for?
What assumptions did they make?
Compare the answers and think about how this relates to your project and the estimates you're about to make or review.
The main goal of this exercise is to spark a conversation within your team. Make sure everyone clearly understands the task, shares a common view of its size, and considers factors like resource availability, task complexity, inclusions, exclusions, and available options.
Accuracy of Estimation: 🎯
As seen in the cup of tea exercise, even simple tasks can have varied estimates, often based on personal experiences and assumptions. In this case, low estimates likely assumed all necessary resources were on hand.
So, if estimating accurately can be tricky even when we know what we're doing, what do we do when we're uncertain about the task itself?
Improving Estimation: 🔨
Agile methods offer simple tools to estimate tasks and adjust them as we progress. It's important to remember that different people may have different definitions and assumptions. Estimation games in Agile help us achieve a shared understanding and effectively manage options and solutions.
What initially seems simple may turn out to be more complicated as we learn more about the task's requirements and progress. Complexity can also arise from internal or external changes. Agile Estimation Games help us continually review, adjust, and gain consensus across stakeholders, keeping everyone informed and adaptable
Inspired by: 🔗 https://beingagile.co.uk/agile-estimation-game-cup-of-tea/
