Burndown Question
Let's say I estimate a task at three days. RTC factors these 24 hours into the total hours for the sprint burndown chart. Eventually, I finish the task, but it only took two days. So, I put a correction in the task to reflect this and mark it complete. How does this correction reflect in the burndown chart? Is the total number of hours reduced by the one day, or does the chart burn down by the original three days, or something else?
Thanks, Chris |
5 answers
The corrected estimate will always override the original estimate.
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The corrected estimate will always override the original estimate. OK, but how does that affect the burndown chart? Does it get rebuild from scratch using the reduced estimate (in my example) as the new total number of hours? |
On 3/18/2010 9:53 AM, cbarlock wrote:
rjaouaniwrote: We're really talking about three different concepts. Estimate, Corrected Estimate, and Time Spent. From your description, if, when you finish the project you find it only took two days, then I would enter 2 days as Time Spent, not as Corrected Estimate. That is, the corrected estimate should be used not as an after-the-fact reflection of how much work was required, but as a way of correcting your estimate before you start the work, or as the work is ongoing, to reflect changes in your assumptions, etc. To answer your question though... If you supply 3 days (24 hours) as the estimate on Monday, and then on Wednesday you supply 2 days as the Corrected Estimate, then your burndown chart for the week would show 3 days on Monday and Tuesday, and then a dip to 2 days on Wednesday and henceforth. Hope this helps. james RTC Reports Team Lead |
On 3/18/2010 9:53 AM, cbarlock wrote: rjaouaniwrote: We're really talking about three different concepts. Estimate, Corrected Estimate, and Time Spent. From your description, if, when you finish the project you find it only took two days, then I would enter 2 days as Time Spent, not as Corrected Estimate. That is, the corrected estimate should be used not as an after-the-fact reflection of how much work was required, but as a way of correcting your estimate before you start the work, or as the work is ongoing, to reflect changes in your assumptions, etc. To answer your question though... If you supply 3 days (24 hours) as the estimate on Monday, and then on Wednesday you supply 2 days as the Corrected Estimate, then your burndown chart for the week would show 3 days on Monday and Tuesday, and then a dip to 2 days on Wednesday and henceforth. Hope this helps. james RTC Reports Team Lead Yes, it helps a lot, thank you! It also answers a question I posted sometime back that didn't get a really good answer. Using this example, I asked whether I should make the Correct Estimate and the Time Spent two days when I completed the task. The one response was "that's what I do," but your response says "no." So, if I left the estimate at three days and then finished the task with two days, how does RTC handle the chart? Would it show a burndown of three days (the original estimate) or just two? If the latter, how would you get it to zero when all tasks are complete? Chris |
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On 3/18/2010 4:07 PM, cbarlock wrote:
jmoodywrote: Yes, it helps a lot, thank you! It also answers a question I posted sometime back that didn't get a really good answer. Using this example, I asked whether I should make the Correct Estimate and the Time Spent two days when I completed the task. The one response was "that's what I do," but your response says "no." So, if I left the estimate at three days and then finished the task with two days, how does RTC handle the chart? Would it show a burndown of three days (the original estimate) or just two? If the latter, how would you get it to zero when all tasks are complete? Chris Once a work item is closed, its estimate value is removed from the burndown line. If work item 1 had an estimate of 3 days, and you completed it in 2 days, then when you close the work item, the burndown report will drop by 3 days. james RTC Reports Team Lead |
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