As I began writing this post, I’m wondering if the title is a bit too much. However the more I think of it its still rings true.

I decided to write about this as I kept hearing for many years the great debate about those who believe that we need to estimate our work no matter what and those who believe that any form of estimation is a waste of time. Some even view asking estimations as a sign of distrust.

It’s a concept

Estimation is really a concept invented by us. It’s not a tangible thing that you can touch yet it’s something that we do automatically within our nature everyday, even if we don’t realise it. Every time you order something online, you expect to find out what’s the estimated delivery date. When you go home from work to your loved ones, you’ll tell them roughly when you’ll get home. If you catch a train or bus to go somewhere, you expect the bus or train to come right on time, based on estimated timetable. Even when you order a pizza online, some places like Dominos will have the countdown timer for when the pizza is ready for collection, again it’s estimated time. When you use your GPS to find a location, it will tell you the estimated time of arrival.

I believe we can’t escape from the concept of estimation. From the moment we learned how to pour water into a drinking glass, we already estimate, otherwise we won’t know when to stop the water flow from the jug or water tap.

Therefore, unless you are a God or an inter-dimensional being where time and space does not matter, you are just a human stuck with the concept of estimation. So let’s not get too attached or emotional regarding estimation, it is just a concept that can be made to serve us.

The Right Question is What are We Going to Use the Data for?

If there is one thing that I strongly disagree is using estimation data to create a deadline. Now that’s just plain stupid. It’s even worst if the data is being used as ammunitions for when a project does not go as planned.

The right way of using the data is to make informed decisions. If you work in a company, chances are that there will be a lot of things that a company wants to do. Having estimation data means that the teams will be able to choose which initiative to kick off first. As an example: if initiative A and B will make $1 million profit, then it would make sense to choose the one with lower estimate first.

If you are a business owner or a contractor, you will need to come up with estimations yourself to know how much you are going to charge for your services. Let’s take building a website as an example, if the client wants to create a certain website, normally the service provider will be expected to go over the details and be able to provide a quote for the customer. The exception when this is not needed is when the client is willing to use daily rate or hourly rate, which won’t be very common in a lot of scenarios.

Be Prepared to Reestimate, Reassess and Inform

The most important task to maintain confidence is to ensure that we keep reassessing our original estimate as we work on the project. Understand that a customer or a stakeholder would prefer to be informed with an updated estimate rather than getting a surprise at the last minute. This will give them opportunities to adjust their plans and estimates accordingly.

I’ll give your a common example. If you ever buy an item online, normally you’ll get your item delivered by a courier. They always give a super broad delivery time estimate, which can be between 9am to 12pm. Perhaps they are afraid of getting sued if they give accurate estimate? Anyway, in my case I would normally stick around at home for that delivery most of the time only to find a “we missed you” card in my mailbox or end up receiving the goods at 5pm instead. Now wouldn’t it be good if they call and say that they are late and will come at 5pm? I’d be able to adjust my plans for the day.

Estimation is Neither Bad nor Good, It is Just Data

In closing, as the above title say, estimation is just a concept that when utilised properly will produce some data for us. It’s neither bad nor good. What really matters is what we end up using the data for. Remember that data can be used for both greater good or evil.