Estimation in Agile Projects

Update (11 December 2024):

This article was written in 2021 with Agile Project Management (AgilePM) V2 as baseline. In October 2024, Agile Business Consortium announced the launch of Agile Project Management V3 (AgilePM3). Though parts of the article below are still relevant, the topics covered may not be referring to the latest guidance on Agile Project Management.

Agile estimation has different philosophy behind it in comparison to traditional or waterfall methodologies. Agile Projects and Agile Project Management is incremental which essentially means that traditional approach to estimation is not a good fit for Agile projects. 

Similar to traditional projects, estimates can be used for various purposes:

• To assess feasibility
• To evaluate a Business Case
• To plan project schedule
• To calculate the costs for project

DSDM based AgilePM makes use of any technique of estimation (bottom-up or top-down), however, there are four key points to consider:

• DSDM contingency provided by applying MoSCoW to scope of features to be delivered
• Estimates only as precise and accurate as necessary for their purpose at the given point in lifecycle
• Whenever possible, people delivering project outputs related to requirements should create the estimates for delivery
• Estimates need to be re-validated throughout project, as understanding of requirements deepens and as team’s actual velocity is proven

Agile Project Management (AgilePM®) Handbook provides guidance on estimation within Agile projects in sufficient detail. 

Visit Tecknologia to learn more about Agile Project Management (AgilePM) and how to achieve certifications for Agile Project Management (AgilePM). This will help you learn all about MoSCoW in Agile world, particularly in DSDM based Agile Project Management (AgilePM).