Planning Poker
Planning Poker is a popular effort estimation method from the agile toolbox.
The goal is to estimate the total expected effort for each tasks, called “user stories”. It is based on a quantified assessment of the effort required to complete a specific task. As a rule, so-called “story points” serve as the unit of estimation.
Story points
Story points do not represent the effort in hours or days, but describe the size of the (development) task to be accomplished. Story points are also not an absolute reference value, but vary from team to team. By using story points, the complexity of the time estimate, which depends on many external factors, can be tricked. This is possible because agile approaches work with constant sprint lengths. Thus, a total number of story points that makes sense for each team can be determined over several sprints – and this results in the reference measure story point.
User story estimation
Each person in the team has a set of planning poker cards, with the values 0, ½, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40 and 100. The gradation of the effort according to the Fibonacci series helps to avoid false accuracy in the estimation (e.g. discussions between effort 27.5 or 28).
Each user story is estimated by the whole team after discussing the scope. Each participant chooses one card, and then all cards are revealed at the same time. If all estimates agree, the round is completed. If the estimates differ vastly, the team discusses the reasons for the discrepancies before estimating again.
Consent-based vs. consensus-based
In the understanding of the STAGILE® framework, the planning poker method should be consent-based, not consensus-based. For us, consent is the agile brother of consensus. That is, it differentiates between concerns that are resolved in consensus and serious objections that are considered in consent. Whereas consensus usually involves discussion until all participants actively agree, consent applies the “save enough to try” approach and not all concerns need to be resolved completely.
This consent-based approach brings an even more significant aspect than effort estimation: the clarification aspect. If there is a large discrepancy between the estimates, it is important to understand the reasons for the differences and, if necessary, to define the Definition of Done of the User Story more precisely.
Planning Poker thus helps to sharpen the understanding of the content and the Definition of Done and to estimate the user stories for a project. It also provides a good framework to avoid falling into false accuracy and endless discussions about possible concerns.
Text by STAGILE® Coach Martin Reischmann.
You can find our Planning Poker cards in the ALEAS Shop.
