Missed Estimates

In this segment, we’re challenged with a new scenario: an individual contributor consistently misses their own estimates. This is our opportunity to apply the essence of management—creating positive, sustainable change in organizational performance.

• We frame the issue not just as a problem to fix, but as an opportunity to create a delta in this person’s effectiveness and the team’s overall reliability.
• Our goal is to understand the root cause—is it due to optimism bias, poor time management, lack of clarity, or systemic issues in the planning process?
• We can introduce structured changes: better estimation techniques, mentoring, regular retrospectives, or adjusting sprint planning to account for variability.
• We aim for improvements that are sustainable—equipping the individual with tools or frameworks they can continue to use independently.
• As always, our success isn’t in reacting to the problem but in proactively shaping a better outcome that would not have happened without our involvement.

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