SCRUM template: time remaining and time spent
Hi,
we've switched to SCRUM template recently from OpenUP. One of the major differences we've noticed: you report time remaining of a work item instead of time spent. I personally like the approach but: we have also a management that requires to have reported (total) time spent. And for a developer it is useful to have automatically calculated if it is time to correct the estimate. What I would like to get: be able to work with both - time spent as well as time remaining and the logic (calculation) would ensure consistent numbers. E.g. My original estimate of a work item: 1d At the end of day 1 I have spent: 4h and I estimate time remaining as 7h (lessons learnt - as you start to work, things get complicated, you know the story). Therefore it would be great to be able to put time I have spent (4h) and see pre-calculated time remaining (4h -> warning that I need to correct original estimate) OR I put time spent (7h) and calculated time spent (1h -> ups, but I have spent much more, something's wrong here.) Does it make sense? |
5 answers
Hi,
You know, for the goal-driven approach like Scrum, time spent is not so important. Remaining time is much useful by the way. I believe that's the reason why the template hide the time spent field by default. And I love it. Anyway.. You are misusing the Estimated, Correction and Time Remaining fields. I believe lot of people will do the same mistake at the first time. I did, too. : ) Let me explain how to use it. E.g. My original estimate of a work item: 1d At the end of day 1 I have spent: 4h and I estimate time remaining as 7h. Therefore I put time remaining (7h) and correction (1d 3h). That's it. Simple, isn't it? Scrum encourages updating the progress of each task every day. If you realize that the original estimation was incorrect, you also should correct it every day. Don't touch the original estimation. It's a useful info. Wegra. |
|
Hi Wegra,
I didn't mean to change the original estimate - I was about to use corrected estimate. The thing is I need to remember time spent since corrected estimate covers whole period - let's assume you have task open for more than one day. The day #1: original estimate 4days; I have spent 3 hours and I feel I must correct the estimate to 4.5d -> corrected estimate. The day #2: I have spent 6h and remaining time estimated -> 4days; but now I must use my memory to remember what time I have spent to decide if/not needed to correct the estimate again. One solution is of course to split the task into one day long child tasks... But is it practical then? Anyone tried to use like that? AND: I need to report the time spent to stakeholders (e.g. time spent per area). We used it this way with OpenUP template and it was practical since then developers don't need to report hours to our ERP system -> duplicated work. |
|
Hi again,
I think you don't need to use your memory at all. The day #1: - Correction: 4d 4h - Time Remaining: 4d 1h The day #2: Step #1: Just subtract the time you spent(6h) from the Time Remaining. - Correction: 4d 4h - Time Remaining: 3d 3h Step #2: if you feel you need 4 more days to complete the task, add 7h (4d - 3d 3h) to both Correction and Time Remaining. - Correction: 5d 3h - Time Remaining: 4d If you still think it's not fit for you, switch the Time Remaining to Time Spent. Here are the instructions from RTC's Help Contents. 1. Right-click the project area in the Team Artifacts view and click Open. The project area opens in the editor. 2. Click the Process Configuration tab. 3. In the Project Configuration section, expand the Configuration Data and Planning nodes. 4. Click the Work Item Progress Mode node. 5. Select Time Spent or Time Remaining from the drop-down list. 6. Click Save to save your change to the project area. Wegra. |
|
Hi Wegra,
and thanks again for your answer. Your explanation shows that we combine both views: time spent + time remaining. In my view it would be great to make it easier for a developer and provide both fields and pre-calculate. I'm simply lazy and I want to avoid mistakes (to create error prone system.) Current way in Jazz requires exclusive use. I can you one of the options at the time (time spent vs. time remaining). Roman Hi again, |
There is small correction required :
Step #2: if you feel you need 4 more days to complete the task, add 7h (4d - 3d 3h) to both Correction and Time Remaining. 4d = 32 hours 3d 3h = 27 hours So difference is 5h. So we should add 5h and 7h. Is this correct ? |
Your answer
Dashboards and work items are no longer publicly available, so some links may be invalid. We now provide similar information through other means. Learn more here.