I think the best thing you can do is getting them to understand their own bias (either way, too high or too low) and compensating for it.
Another thing you can do is having broader values instead of trying to be super specific (can you really tell the difference between something that takes 3 weeks and one that takes 4 weeks?).
At a previous job we also did estimates in groups and had discussions when people wildly disagreed on them.
At Aha! (disclaimer I work at Aha!), my team uses half-days, 1 day, days, weeks, and months. Anything bigger than a week usually gets broken down before we start working on it. Other teams prefer points, some use the Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc.) or whatever works for them.
I think the best thing you can do is getting them to understand their own bias (either way, too high or too low) and compensating for it.
Another thing you can do is having broader values instead of trying to be super specific (can you really tell the difference between something that takes 3 weeks and one that takes 4 weeks?).
At a previous job we also did estimates in groups and had discussions when people wildly disagreed on them.
At Aha! (disclaimer I work at Aha!), my team uses half-days, 1 day, days, weeks, and months. Anything bigger than a week usually gets broken down before we start working on it. Other teams prefer points, some use the Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, etc.) or whatever works for them.
Thanks for the detailed information, that's really helpful