An agile workflow allows groups to estimate new work effectively. A group that has been working together for some time can estimate new user stories much better. Groups that have experienced failures and successes in the past can compare their speed against point estimates that all members can accept and thus, they can predict with rational accuracy how hard it will be for them to complete new stories.
Groups that are new to agile workflow, however, may find it hard to determine how to estimate user stories effectively. Some teams find that the soft relationship between actual time allotted working on stories and point value can be disrupting. Others find the team-specific and abstract concept of points hard to understand. Attempts to get precise point estimates for new user stories may feel loose and obstructive. There are agile estimation techniques that can be used to make the process easier for groups. One of these is TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint). This technique can get every member of the group involved in productive point estimation from the beginning, no matter their level of experience or skill with agile techniques might be.
How Does TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint) Work?
TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint) is an agile estimation technique similar to Big/Uncertain/Small, another agile estimation technique that places items in one of the 3 categories – Big, Uncertain and Small. With TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint), on the other hand, there’s a specific size in the mix and that is 1 Sprint. The categories include No F-ing Clue, “1” Sprint and Too F-ing Big.
Why Use TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint)?
TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint) is fast. A large number of items can be estimated within a short period of time. It is also collaborative, so each member of the team can participate roughly equally. The right people participate in the estimation process. Tracing who estimated what is impossible, so group accountability is promoted. If someone makes an incorrect estimate, there’s no way to know this person. The whole group is responsible for everything, so no one can blame any member of the team.
This agile estimation method also gives relative results. You’re not really trying to learn to foresee the future. Agile estimation techniques like TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint) help you realize that the estimation process is a non-value added activity and reduce it as much as possible. Most agile estimation methods also use relative units. This means that teams don’t have to estimate days or dollars directly. Qualitative labels or points are instead used and items to be estimated are simply compared to one another. This uses a person’s ability to compare things to one another and prevents difficulty in comparing items to an intangible matter such as days or dollars. It is important that teams learn how to approach new user stories and determine the amount of effort each story will take to complete. With TFB / NFC / 1 (Sprint), estimation is made much simpler.
— Slimane Zouggari