Scope cannot be properly estimated

Owned by Katsiaryna_Subach
Last updated: Jan 17, 2022 by Aleksandr Bogush
1 min read

Scope cannot be properly estimated due too many unknowns, complexity or missing details or issues with estimation accuracy

Discovered by combination of metrics:

Velocity: Committed vs. Completed, when team constantly overcommits and undercommits 

Average Velocity, when average velocity is not stable / fluctuating without any changes in team's setup 

Backlog Health, when low indicating that there is no enough "ready for development" scope to fill out several future iterations due to the fact that team cannot estimate work

Sprint Plan Change, high percentage of items being added or removed due to overload or under-load of the team during active iteration 

Delivery Forecast via Burn-up, when "Scope" line is unstable, especially when Scope creep is high, also when "Completed" line is often very different from its overall trend

Recommendations: 

  1. Introduce or enhance Scrum attributes and execution

  2. Improve estimation process

  3. Introduce or enhance EngX in delivery