Skip to main content

Estimating work in JIRA

Last post 11:45 pm October 10, 2018 by Chris Belknap
3 replies
03:22 pm October 10, 2018

Hey everyone,

First time post here but struggling a little with estimating work in JIRA using story points. I have seen lots of threads on the limiations of JIRA by not being able to estimate using Story points for sub tasks as it goes against SCRUM methodology which is fine, however I am now at a cross roads in what to do.

Let me set the scene:

We have a cross functioanl team of UX, Visual Design, Copy, Analytics and Producers, however our developers sit in their own team and not part of our dedicated team. We want to use story points to estimate a ticket, however some tasks for example won't need copy or analytics so want to make sure each resource is utilsied correctly. How do others go about doing this? I want to be able to track the velocity of the sprint and understand who is stretched. For example if I had a story that was "Improve the direct debit journey" it will require all the above as well as developer and QA time. How should I size this as indivisually it's a small tasks lets say 2/3 but as a whole ticket it's more like a 13?

Do I need to break this down again into pages like Direct Debit Set up page, Direct Debit Completion Page, Direct Debit Error page etc - each of these being a seperate story under one epic of "IMprove DD journey"?

Any help on how to size would be great.

Thanks,

Tom


09:47 pm October 10, 2018

I think that your splitting approach is definitely workable, but you need to keep in mind that the Scrum Team must be allowed to self-manage around any work proposed and accepted.   

It is not your role in Scrum to try and figure out old PM-based concepts like "resource utilization", or to provide any estimates that do not originate from the team as a whole.   

The Scrum Guide says nothing about what tools you should use (i.e. - JIRA), how you should estimate, or even if you should estimate.   

the limiations of JIRA by not being able to estimate using Story points for sub tasks as it goes against SCRUM methodology 

It is incorrect to state that you can't use story points for sub-tasks (I personally think estimating sub-tasks at all is wasteful, but that is another topic).   It is also incorrect to refer to Scrum as a methodology.   It is a framework.   There is a BIG difference.


09:55 pm October 10, 2018

We have a cross functioanl team of UX, Visual Design, Copy, Analytics and Producers, however our developers sit in their own team and not part of our dedicated team

Is this the sort of cross-functionality described in the Scrum Guide?

How important do you think it is for a team to self-organize arounf the work, as opposed to “make sure each resource is being utilised correctly?”


11:45 pm October 10, 2018

I have seen lots of threads on the limiations of JIRA by not being able to estimate using Story points for sub tasks as it goes against SCRUM methodology which is fine, however I am now at a cross roads in what to do.

I have worked with many Scrum teams who use Jira, although it isn't my favorite tool.  Most of the Development Teams point at the user story level (Jira issue type = Story), during Backlog Refinement.  I have not seen any teams use Jira sub tasks for pointing.  Sub tasks in ira are considered the user story's associated work items in the Sprint Backlog.  I see very few Development Teams estimating the sub tasks nowadays, but most of those that do put hours on their sub tasks, not points.  But that is up to the Development Team to best decide.


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.