"Are we gonna finish on time?" How often have you been asked that question or something similar? That question strikes frustration or fear in most people. It often results in throwing up your hands in frustration or tossing out a wild guess. Surely there's a better way? Forget story points, t-shirt sizing, historical averages. Have you considered building a simple forecasting model—one that provides a range of possible outcomes with confidence levels? Whether you're a developer, project manager, or scrum master, it's important we can answer this question confidently in a way that provides clarity and predictability. We can do that by applying techniques like Monte Carlo simulation and continuous forecasting. In this talk, we'll explore those practices and discuss how you can leverage them no matter your role. You'll leave with a practical set of tools you can start using tomorrow! Answering this question will no longer create frustration or fear like it once did.
- Recognize the difference between a deterministic and probabilistic forecast
- Build your own probabilistic model
- Use your model to answer what-if scenarios
- Communicate and set delivery expectations