Do you promptly inform clients about initial estimate overruns?
Updated by Tiago Araújo [SSW] 6 months ago. See history
For this reason, blowouts should be reported in the Daily Scrum, as well as any major delays being told to the client as soon as possible, so that they don't get a big surprise in the Sprint Review. This will ensure that the client is fully aware of any problems and has a chance to decide an alternative action.
Keep clients informed and avoid conflict by informing them ASAP and documenting estimates overrun in an 'as per our conversation' email:
Hi Mr Northwind
As per our conversation, the Data Migration task in Sprint 07 will take longer than expected and so looks like it won't be delivered this Sprint.
The data migration of the Coverage Data is more complicated than originally anticipated because an external database (Media Disk) also reads from the coverage table. I am revising the estimate accordingly to 5 days.
We are $40k to go, which is $20k over the original estimate.
Note: For Scrum projects, you should keep an eye on your burndown chart during your daily standups to see if you are on track to finish all the work in a Sprint.

Figure: When communicating to clients - talk at 80% not 110%!
Need help?
SSW Consulting has over 30 years of experience developing awesome software solutions.