Estimation - Planning Poker

What is it

• It is a consensus-based estimation technique that produces quick and reliable estimates backed by the whole development team. It is highly recommended to purchase a purposed planning poker card deck.

• A good planning poker card deck is based on the Fibonacci series- 1,2,3,5,8,13,20,40,100

Who

• Everyone that does the work is involved, so typically only the developers should be involved

• If the work item is wholly related to a specialism, e.g. research, UI design, testing then only team members who have experience of that specialism should take part.

Running the technique

• Agree consensus on average value using a previously worked backlog item, e.g. a value of 5

• The backlog item is presented by the product manager or delivery manager, with a short team discussion

• Each team member allowed to vote, does so privately. The cards are then all shown.

• If the scores are in general consensus, e.g. 3, 2,5, 3, 3, then the score is recorded

• Where there is notable variation, e.g. 2, 3,3,5,10,5, then the members with the highest and lowest scores share their thinking. Everyone then repeats the activity, until consensus is reached.