Estimation - No Value
Hi All,
I had an interesting conversation with a QA manager who told me estimating has no value/benefit. I told him estimating is impercise and difficult if one is estimating in hours because its too absolute but there is value in estimating. I wonder what everyone thinks. Thanks!
Being able to make a good forecast is useful. When work is complex and varied, estimation can help.
You could continue your interesting conversation, and ask him if in an optimal Scrum Development Team there would be any benefit in having a QA manager.
Thanks, Ian. I forgot to add that he is saying Agile states that estimating has no value. This is true?
Peter, rather than ask this forum for truth on that or not, ask him for evidence that that's what 'Agile states'.
Nope. The closest there is to an “agile statement” about anything is the Agile Manifesto, and that doesn’t say estimation is waste.
It is certainly possible to implement Scrum without estimating, and to forecast on the basis that backlog items are more or less equally sized. This may or may not be a good idea depending upon the complexity and novelty of the domain. He may have picked up on the no estimates idea from a Kanban context where it tends to be more applicable, interpreted it as a best practice, and then extended it to agile ways-of-working generally.