Mature agile estimation
Let's face it.... estimates are always going to be estimates! Not actuals. No matter how much time we dedicate to getting the estimates "RIGHT", chances are they will still be wrong. They don't take into account the proverbial " unknown, unknowns " and in software development any item of work can contain unknowns or complexity that blow the estimates right out of the water! In traditional project management the tendency is to chase reasons for "wrong" estimates and track actuals against estimates in some kind of attempt to get "better" at estimating. As a result, teams spend a lot of time putting hourly estimates on user stories, which still have a very high chance of being incorrect, so why bother? What a waste! Instead, spend a little bit of time estimating and be just as wrong/ right in the end! I suggest a "mature" attitude to estimating. assume that the work will take as long as it takes assume that everyone wil