Hi there,

For some reason I've been on a kick writing about estimation and things like that lately. Below you'll find an article that introduces six different estimation techniques that I've used at different times.

Since you all are on my newsletter I'll let you in on a little secret, the two most effective techniques I know about are either not estimating at all but using probabilistic forecasting or right-sizing work. Both techniques are tough pills for groups to swallow, but things get a lot nicer when those are the main techniques in use.

If you want to give one of them a shot let me know and I'll show you how you can start. In the beginning I like to do both the old and new technique at the same time until people become comfortable and then talk about letting the old method slowly fade out. That may seem like a lot of overhead, but the nice thing about those two techniques is that they actually aren't a lot of overhead at all and one person can easily keep up with it.

This week I spoke at Carleton University about what it takes to become a senior engineer in 2 years or less. It was my first time speaking to students, so I opted to leave a lot of time for Q&A and there were 40 minutes of questions! I took a pretty firm stance on my opinion of our industry's low bar of what I consider professionalism and responsibility and offered a few techniques to students that they can practice now to get above the bar and become seniors sooner. I'm not quite ready to share the recording of it yet since I want to edit it a little and make sure the student group is comfortable with the idea first.

I've been thinking also around a email series like my others on career essentials or high-performing teams one but focused on senior engineer essentials.

What would be things that you wish either you knew as a senior or you wish the seniors around you knew?

I'm also looking for new clients. If you know anyone that would like significantly better software team performance and quality, or would like removing the risk of their next product please introduce me!

I also updated my site so you can find out a bit more about what kinds of things I help with a little more easily. Check it out!

Here's my weekly update for March 26th, 2021...

🗒️ Six Estimation Techniques

There are few topics that create a ruckus on command like estimation does.

I thought I’d share 6 different ways you can estimate the work ahead.

Click here to read more

🗒️ Crash Course in Constraints

In this article I give a quick explanation of what constraints are, and how they can hold groups back or spark innovation.

Click here to read more

Enjoy,

Ryan Latta