What is the meaning of the 'estimate' field in GitHub Projects?

I have seen a field called estimate in several Projects. For example, many of the default Projects templates, such as team planning, Kanban, and iterative development. However, I can't seem to find what it is estimating.

I found a GitHub discussion, but this only explains how to do it, not what it is. I also found an article for Jira, which is not GitHub but may still work the same. It says this:

In Scrum, there is a distinction between estimation and tracking. Estimation is typically performed against Primary Backlog Items (PBIs, usually stories), and is used to work out how long portions of the backlog might take to be delivered. Tracking refers to monitoring the progress of a sprint, to be sure that all stories included in the sprint will be delivered.

Tracking is often performed by breaking down stories into tasks, and applying hour estimates to them during sprint planning, then monitoring the remaining time in a burndown during the sprint.

It explains what tracking is, but it doesn't actually explain what estimating is.

Questions

What is the estimate field estimating it many GitHub Projects?
Why is it useful?

Solution

The "estimate" field in various project management templates, such as those for team planning, Kanban, and iterative development, is indeed a crucial component, particularly in Agile methodologies like Scrum. To clarify:

Estimation in project management, especially in Agile frameworks, is the process of predicting the amount of effort required to complete a particular task or user story. This is typically done during sprint planning sessions. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

Primary Backlog Items (PBIs): These are the user stories or features that need to be delivered. Estimation is performed on these items to determine how long it might take to complete each one. This helps in planning the sprint and setting realistic goals.
Story Points vs. Hours: Estimations can be done using story points, which are a relative measure of the complexity and effort required for a task, or using hours, which is a more traditional measure of time.
Purpose of Estimation:

Planning: It helps the team to decide how many stories they can commit to in a sprint.
Prioritization: It assists in prioritizing tasks based on their estimated effort and business value.
Tracking Progress: While estimation itself is not tracking, it sets a benchmark against which progress can be measured. During the sprint, the team tracks the actual time spent versus the estimated time to ensure they are on track to complete the sprint goals.

In summary, estimation is about predicting the effort required for tasks, while tracking is about monitoring the actual progress against these estimates during the sprint.