{"id":27150,"date":"2025-03-13T16:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T23:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=27150"},"modified":"2025-03-27T14:46:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T21:46:42","slug":"avoiding-common-confusion-differences-between-absolute-and-relative-estimation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=27150","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding Common Confusion: Differences Between Absolute and Relative Estimation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/pointless_pointing.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you ever have to handle questions about estimation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my experience,&nbsp;this topic still comes up in conversations frequently, and it seems that for many teams it is still not clear, how an&nbsp;<em>absolute&nbsp;<\/em>and relative&nbsp;<em>estimation&nbsp;<\/em>differ from each other, and when each one should be used.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Usually, an absolute estimation is based on units of measure that are universal and clearly understood by everyone involved in estimation. &nbsp;When software developers estimate work, absolute units of measure could be used \u2013&nbsp; usually,&nbsp;<em>days&nbsp;<\/em>and&nbsp;<em>hours<\/em>.<br \/>On the other hand, when teams (not just one developer) perform relative estimation, they can&nbsp;use&nbsp;arbitrary units of measure, such as,&nbsp;story points, T-shirt sizes&nbsp;or dog breeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a simple example of relative estimation that does&nbsp;<em>not&nbsp;<\/em>involve software development:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">If two colleagues,&nbsp;one from the US and one from the UK, want to quickly assess a distance between the Central Park in midtown Manhattan and Battery Park in downtown Manhattan, they may face the challenge of relating miles (US) to kilometers (UK), used by each colleague,&nbsp;respectively.<br \/>In this situation, colleagues can simply count the number of city blocks, from one location to another, and arbitrarily, decide that one city block is equal to one distance point.&nbsp; Then, it would become, relatively easy, to coarse-estimate&nbsp;<em>any&nbsp;<\/em>distance between&nbsp;<em>any&nbsp;<\/em>other city landmarks, by simply looking at a map and counting blocks\/distance points: horizontally, vertically and diagonally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What estimation scale is best to choose in software product development?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If a developer works individually (no peer-programming\/mobbing, swarming), and can simply assess if he has enough capacity to finish on time,&nbsp;he can just use ideal days\/hours. &nbsp;There is no&nbsp;need to over-complicate things with a relative scale, since work does not need to be understood, or contributed to, by others. &nbsp;One thing to note here is that while a full-stack developer would be measuring a real&nbsp;<em>outcome&nbsp;<\/em>of his work, a single-function specialist, most likely, would be able to measure only an&nbsp;<em>output,<\/em>&nbsp;since his work would not be potentially shippable at the end of the sprint (e.g. just a back-end component)<em>.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If a team of developers works together and they are very confident in their ability to relatively size and deliver on target, they can use story points, as a coarse-grained, relative sizing method.&nbsp; It may not be necessary for them to break down work items any further (e.g. tasks).&nbsp; Here, it is very important to focus on the \u201c3C\u201d:&nbsp;<em>Card, Conversation, Confirmation<\/em>, more so, than on producing a number (many teams still chase numbers, to produce metrics, while missing out on having a conversation and developing a shared understanding).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If a development team is not very confident in their ability to size work and deliver on target, they may use story points, as an initial 3C\/coarse-grained relative sizing method at e.g. user story level, and then, in addition, apply days\/hours, at a task-level. &nbsp; This could help confirming that over time, their story point estimation, produces a consistent&nbsp;<em>binomial distribution<\/em>&nbsp;(bell-shaped curve) of days\/hours that are spent on each work item. &nbsp;This should be true for stable, long-lived product teams but not so much for unstable, short-lived project teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If a development team is very consistent in their estimation and sizing work items, then a count of actual work items could be sufficient to estimate and forecast. &nbsp;Story points may not be even needed. This is what Kanban teams usually do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/planning_poker_metrics.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What are some of the most important conditions for relative estimation in software product development?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mandatorily<\/strong>, theoretical\/conceptual understanding of relative estimation and how it differs from absolute estimation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Minimally<\/strong>, two people+, trying to \u2018normalize\u2019 their understanding of time\/volume and complexity of work. &nbsp;Remember: A single worker can simply estimate in traditional measurement units (hours, miles, pounds). &nbsp;There is no need for \u2018normalize\u2019 with anyone. No need for a fancy scale<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ideally<\/strong>, cross-functional, T\/M-shaped workers, capable of performing multiple types of work on the same team. &nbsp;At a&nbsp;minimum, people&nbsp;understanding each other\u2019s work and working side-by-side, for a long time<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unquestionably<\/strong>, people that officially belong to the same team and share ownership\/responsibilities with others. For large-scale, multi-team product development, teams are expected to refine and estimate&nbsp;<em>together<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unequivocally<\/strong>, people not trying to inflate or deflate estimations for their own selfish benefit, and working in trusty environments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some additional graphic illustrations\/cartoons for your use. &nbsp;They can help visualizing some issues with estimation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/velocity_speed.jpg\" \/><\/td>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/cost_story_point.jpg\" \/><\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Additional Recent Articles for your review:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/2024\/10\/future-of-product-development-from-fake-productization-saga-to-truly-product-centric-organizations\/\">Future of Product Development: From Fake Productization Saga to Truly Product-Centric Organizations<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/2022\/04\/feature-teams-vs-product-teams-organizational-implications-of-false-dichotomy\/\">Feature Teams vs. Product Teams? Organizational Implications of False Dichotomy.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/2024\/12\/avoiding-false-dichotomy-if-we-are-agile-we-are-not-cmmi-compliant\/\">Avoiding False Dichotomy: \u201cIf We Are Agile, We Are Not CMMI Compliant\u201d.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/2025\/02\/organization-improvements-therapy-or-surgery-it-is-your-choice\/\">Organization Improvements: Therapy Or Surgery? It Is Your Choice.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/2025\/02\/synchronized-sprint-cadence-thoughtful-decision-or-cargo-cult\/\">Synchronized Sprint Cadence: Thoughtful Decision or Cargo Cult?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/gg_headshot-new-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gene Gendel<\/strong>&nbsp;is the co-founder&nbsp;of&nbsp;KSTS Consulting.&nbsp;Gene is an organizational design consultant, adaptive &amp; lean coach and trainer, and independent adviser to senior leadership. &nbsp;Gene is a widely recognized, world-class trainer\/instructor, and is mainly focused on organizational design and product centricity, the experience for which he has gained, over the decades of deeply embedded coaching and consulting.&nbsp; Gene\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/customers\/\">clients<\/a>&nbsp;represent a wide industry spectrum.&nbsp; Almost 15 of 20+ years of his professional experience Gene&nbsp; has dedicated to working with companies of various sizes and lines of business, trying to help them improve internal dynamics, organizational structure and becoming a better place&nbsp; for people to work in.&nbsp; In his work, &nbsp;Gene uses various methods, tools and techniques to amplify learning of other people and to ensure that his followers gain autonomy after Gene \u201ccoaches himself out of the job\u201d.&nbsp; Over the last decade, Gene\u2019s big focus has been on large financial institutions and consulting companies that struggle with moving away, from traditional budgets and portfolio\/program\/project work decomposition, towards more adaptive\/flexible budgeting and clearly defined products (product-centric, customer-focused development).&nbsp; Gene\u2019s, highly in-demand, LeSS&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/large-scale-scrum-training\/\">classes<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/product-discovery-definition-workshop\/\">product discovery &amp; definition workshops<\/a>, both private and public, are based on intuitive system modelling and rich eco-systemic perspective that includes intra-organizational dynamics and market realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gene is one of very few people who has been honored the status of&nbsp;<em>Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC) \u2013 EMERITUS&nbsp;<\/em>\u2013 something that is earned after 10 years of having CEC.&nbsp; Gene is also one of the co-creators and holders of&nbsp;<em>Certified Team Coach (CTC)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2015, Gene has built the largest, fastest growing and the most active global&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/large-scale-scrum-less-in-nyc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Large Scale Scrum community<\/a>, counting close to 7200 members, from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gene is also a frequent presenter and panelist, publicly and privately, with a very&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.keystepstosuccess.com\/presenting-facilitating\/\">diverse gamut of engaging topics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Credits<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Featured Image. \u201cIt represents the difference between Absolute and Relative Estimation\u201d prompt.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>ChatGPT-4 (v2), OpenAI , March 23, 2025 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you ever have to handle questions about estimation? In my experience,&nbsp;this topic still comes up in conversations frequently, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1827,"featured_media":27303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[852,1,854,1487,1481,1435],"tags":[1500,39,1297,38,1501,925],"class_list":["post-27150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pmbok-process","category-miscellaneous","category-pmbok-process-planning","category-agile","category-exchange-of-agility-knowledge","category-project-management","tag-absolute-estimation","tag-best-practices","tag-kanban","tag-project-management","tag-relative-estimation","tag-scrum"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ABSOLUTE-ESTIMATION-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27150"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27346,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27150\/revisions\/27346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}