⚡️Stop Chasing Velocity. Start Measuring Estimation Accuracy

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We talk a lot about delivery in Agile teams-velocity, throughput, done vs not done. But what about planning? Specifically, how accurate are we when we estimate effort up front?

That’s where the Estimation Accuracy Report comes into play. It brings clarity to a question most dashboards ignore-“How far off were we from what we originally planned?”

If your retrospectives keep circling the same unknowns-like inconsistent burndowns or surprise delays-this report might be your missing piece.

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What the Report Tells You

The Estimation Accuracy Report shows how closely logged work matches estimates, per user, over a defined period and status range.

In simple terms, it compares:
How much time you thought work would take vs. How much time was actually logged.

Inside Report Hub, this comes in a clean, visual format that helps teams:

• See each member’s average estimation accuracy

• Track trends over time

• Spot chronic over/underestimation patterns

• Drill into the specific issues behind the mismatch

You can even define your own acceptable inaccuracy threshold, so it’s easy to highlight only the deviations that matter - no need to dig through every anomaly.

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Real-World Use Cases

✅ 1. Accurate Version Planning Starts with Trend Awareness

Version planning is always a balancing act: how much can we commit to, and how confident are we that we’ll hit those dates?

Too often, teams rely on best-case assumptions - or pad timelines arbitrarily “just to be safe.” But without knowing how estimation accuracy has played out over time, you're essentially planning blind.

That’s where the Estimation Accuracy Report in Report Hub becomes essential.

By tracking how estimation accuracy changes over time, you can:

• See whether your team is improving or drifting over time

• Spot consistent gaps in estimation for specific types of work

• Identify contributors or teams with wider accuracy variances

• Quantify how far off your estimates tend to be - 10%? 30%? More?

With this trend data, you’re no longer guessing how much buffer to include for your next release. You can:

• Build buffers based on real deviation, not gut feel

• Adjust roadmap forecasts based on historical behavior

• Set stakeholder expectations with greater confidence

For example, if you see that your team typically underestimates by 25% during backend-heavy cycles, you can apply that trend as a baseline when planning your next infrastructure-heavy version - rather than discovering it mid-sprint.

In Report Hub, this trend view becomes a quiet superpower: not just a tool for spotting issues retrospectively, but a lens to help you plan smarter, earlier, and with fewer surprises.

✅ 2. New Team Members or Junior Estimators

Use the subtable to drill into where someone’s estimates are consistently off. It’s a great coaching tool for helping newer team members learn how to scope work more accurately.

✅ 3. Multiple Teams, Shared Roadmap

If you’re managing several squads contributing to a shared release, this report can reveal which team’s planning accuracy is impacting the bigger picture - without the blame game.

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Why It’s More Than a “Nice to Have”

Estimation Accuracy is about being honest with ourselves about what’s doable. Teams that track it:

• Communicate more clearly with stakeholders

• Plan releases with higher confidence

• Catch hidden inefficiencies in planning or execution

You’ll stop reacting to slippage after it happens - and start seeing the warning signs earlier.

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Pro Tips for Using the Report

To get the most out of the Estimation Accuracy Report in Report Hub:

• Filter by status to focus only on completed work

• Adjust the time range to analyze patterns over weeks or months

• Turn on the average line to benchmark individuals against the team

• Set your own accuracy threshold to highlight exceptions, not punish outliers

• Click a user’s bar to explore the exact issues that caused deviation

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Tracking velocity is helpful - but if estimates are often off, the roadmap might not reflect reality as well as it should.

Estimation Accuracy, as visualized in Report Hub, turns planning into a measurable skill - one your team can actually improve. And the teams that track it? They’re not just fast, they’re reliable.