Estimates that are most successful, in my experience, leverage four perspectives: realistic (for people who prefer a quick approximation), optimistic-pessimistic (for people who prefer ranges and risks), and equilibristic (for people who leverage critical path and critical chain). The mnemonic is ROPE.
Estimates as work-hours by the person most-likely to do the work tend to work the best in my experience. Estimates as work-hours also are clear and direct for upper management, or across to other stakeholder organizations.
If your estimates are solely within one team or sprint, then story points tend to feel fun and easy. If you can skip estimates all together then that's superb-- it helps to have a skilled team and also a high trust environment.
https://github.com/SixArm/sixarm_project_management_rope_est...
Estimates as work-hours by the person most-likely to do the work tend to work the best in my experience. Estimates as work-hours also are clear and direct for upper management, or across to other stakeholder organizations.
If your estimates are solely within one team or sprint, then story points tend to feel fun and easy. If you can skip estimates all together then that's superb-- it helps to have a skilled team and also a high trust environment.