Rediscovering FogBugz

This weekend I had a bit of a crisis because I couldn't see the forest from the trees (is that English at all?). There is simply so much to do, that I panicked a bit and wondered how to solve that.

I thought it would be best to make a list of things to do. Sometimes that helps to realign your thoughts. First I started typing the list as tasks in Microsoft Outlook, but I realised that I tried that many times before and I simply don't like that. So, I looked further on at the tools we have. I realized that we use FogBugz for storing our bug reports and feature requests, but I could also use it to create my own lists.

I did know FogBugz has a couple of things that we don't use (wiki, discussion board) because I think that user interface is too simple. But I found that, after entering my task list and estimate the time needed for that, FogBugz has a great feature. It can calculate if a planned release date can be met or not. It will also tell you the probability that you will make that date.

Even based on this weekends work it already tells me the probability for the next release (about 20% :-(). I can imagine that, if you use it to plan bigger amounts of work of more people, it can be a really helpfull thing. So, we will be good boys and use that feature of FogBugz and see if it helps.

If you don't know: FogBugz s created by FogCreek, a company with a state of mind much like ours. Just read http://www.fogcreek.com/About.html.

Bye,

Bart