Week 3 of the year 2025

- 3 minutes read - 519 words

This Week’s Challenges:

  • Planning FY26Q1 - Level-of-Effort (LOE) estimations

This week has been a whirlwind of planning and estimation as we prepare for the upcoming quarter. As an Engineering Manager, a significant portion of my time is dedicated to ensuring our team is effectively aligned with company goals and that we’re setting realistic and achievable targets.

The Input

Our planning process begins with a clear understanding of our organizational OKRs. These high-level objectives provide the overarching direction for the entire company. To translate these OKRs into actionable goals for our engineering team, we rely heavily on detailed Product Requirement Documents (PRDs). Each PRD outlines a specific feature or improvement, providing crucial context for our work.

The Process

  1. Understanding the Objective: The first step is to clearly understand the “objective” component of each OKR. This usually originates from senior leadership and provides the overall direction.
  2. Defining Key Results (KRs): Based on the objective, I work on defining specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (we all remember “SMART goals”, right) Key Results. These KRs serve as the concrete milestones that will demonstrate our progress towards the overall objective.
  3. Identifying Assumptions and Dependencies: No project exists in a vacuum. We carefully identify any assumptions or dependencies on other teams, external factors, or resources (including infra budget!). These could include things like the availability of specific data, the completion of work by other teams, or the successful integration with third-party systems - i.e. whatever our KRs depend on or what should happen before we can start our work.
  4. Scoping the Work: Once we have a clear understanding of the KRs and assumptions, we meticulously scope the work required from our engineering team. This involves breaking down the project into smaller, more manageable tasks and identifying the necessary resources and timelines.

The Output

Based on the detailed scoping and LOE estimations, we translate the work into a realistic number of sprints. Each sprint represents a time-boxed period (2 weeks in my team) during which the team focuses on delivering a specific set of features or functionalities.

Typically I run two passes: do this in my own and then run through my teach leads.

Commit/No-Commit

With the LOE estimates and sprint planning complete, we conduct a critical “commit/no-commit” meeting with our TPMs. This meeting serves as a crucial checkpoint to:

  • Review team capacity: We assess our team’s available bandwidth, considering factors like planned vacations, potential roadblocks, and the complexity of the proposed work.
  • Prioritize OKRs: Based on team capacity, LOE estimates, and identified risks, we prioritize the OKRs that we will focus on in the upcoming quarter.
  • Align Expectations: This meeting ensures alignment between our team’s commitments and the overall business objectives.

Conclusion

The process of estimation and planning is an ongoing iterative process. Continuous communication, regular check-ins, and a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances are crucial for success. By carefully considering these factors, we can ensure that our team is effectively aligned with company goals and positioned for success in the coming quarter.

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