What is planning poker and how can you use it for Agile project management?

Imagine you're in a room with your team, including developers, stakeholders, and product owners, ready to estimate the effort needed for various tasks or user stories. Planning Poker is a method that fosters collaboration in this estimation process. Instead of assigning fixed hours or timeframes, we use relative sizing. We compare tasks or stories in terms of complexity or effort. We often employ a modified Fibonacci sequence to assign values, making it easier to distinguish between different levels of complexity.

Planning poker is an agile estimation technique where team members assign story points to tasks based on complexity. It involves discussion, followed by private voting using cards with numeric values. This fosters collaboration, reduces biases, and ensures more accurate estimations in agile project management. It enhances team communication and transparency, leading to better planning and successful project execution.

Planning poker is an agile estimation technique where team members assign story points to tasks using a deck of cards, fostering collaboration and more accurate time predictions. In agile project management, it enhances communication, aligns team understanding, and ensures collective decision-making. This method helps teams estimate effort, prioritize tasks, and achieve more realistic project timelines in an iterative and collaborative manner.

Planning poker in agile project management is a technique that is used for estimating the effort of user stories, features, or tasks. Team members are given cards with numbers representing effort. It's a collaborative and engaging way for agile teams to collectively estimate the complexity of work items during the planning phase. Each member privately selects a card to estimate, and cards are revealed simultaneously. If estimates vary, a discussion follows, with high and low estimators explaining their reasoning. This process is repeated until a consensus is reached. It fosters collaboration, relativity in sizing, efficiency, engagement, and a fun element. It's particularly valuable in Scrum for sprint planning and backlog prioritisation.

Planning Poker in Agile project management is akin to a game night with a purpose. Team members hold cards with numbers representing their task estimates - in hours, days, or story points. Like a secretive poker hand, cards are played face-down, avoiding peer influence. Upon revealing the cards, it's not about winning but understanding each other's rationale. This game-like approach sparks lively discussions, blending individual insights into a collective wisdom. It turns the often-mundane task of estimation into an engaging, collaborative session where every opinion counts. The result? A more accurate and team-endorsed project plan makes planning poker fun and a key strategy in Agile's collaborative toolkit.

Remember to adjust planning poker to your industry as I have for example.... In the space industry, Planning Poker entails estimating tasks related to satellite launches and mission planning. Engineers assess the complexity of components such as propulsion systems and payload deployment, focusing on intricate technical challenges and potential risks unique to the space environment. Conversely, in the telecommunications industry, Planning Poker revolve around software development for network infrastructure or deploying new services. Software developers and network engineers estimate efforts related to coding, testing, and integrating features.

Discrepancy in estimates, the team discusses the reasons behind the differences, aiming for a shared understanding. Repeat the process until a consensus is reached. Record the final estimate, and move on to the next task or user story. The facilitator plays a crucial role in guiding the session, ensuring active participation, and maintaining focus on achieving a collective estimation. Planning Poker sessions foster collaboration, improve estimation accuracy, and enhance communication within Agile teams.

To conduct a Planning Poker session, gather your Agile team and provide each member with a set of Planning Poker cards. Explain the task or user story to be estimated and allow team members to discuss until they understand the task. Each member privately selects a card that represents their estimate, and all cards are revealed simultaneously. If estimates vary widely, discuss the reasons and repeat the process until consensus is reached. Record the final estimate and move on to the next task.

How Planning Poker Works? : Each team member is given a set of Planning Poker cards, which usually have values like 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, and 100. These values represent units of effort, complexity, or relative size. The team discusses a particular user story or task to be estimated. User stories are often written on index cards or presented on a board. Once everyone has chosen a card, all team members simultaneously reveal their chosen cards. The agreed-upon estimate is recorded, and the process is repeated for the next user story or task.

Conduct planning poker with each team member using task cards for estimates. Facilitate discussions for consensus, ensuring clear communication. Picture it as a collaborative card game, promoting engagement and shared decision-making, much like strategizing in a successful card game.

Effective planning poker tips: 1. Opt for a project-specific scale, limit tasks to 10 per session to prevent fatigue, use digital tools for remote collaboration, and respect each other's estimates. 2. Continuously adapt estimates as the project evolves, treating planning poker as an ongoing learning process. 3. Ensure consistency in estimation practices across multiple teams for improved planning and coordination. 4. Keep sessions enjoyable and maintain a positive team culture during Planning Poker. 5. Avoid over-analysis; if consensus isn't swift, consider re-voting or deferring discussions to a later time.

🔵 Two quick tips to remember 🔵 1️⃣ Tailor the Scale to Project Dynamics: - Customize the estimation scale based on the unique characteristics of your project. Consider factors such as technology, team expertise, and the nature of tasks. A scale aligned with your project's specifics enhances the accuracy of estimations. 2️⃣ Foster Inclusivity in Remote Sessions: - In distributed or remote teams, ensure active participation and inclusivity during virtual Planning Poker sessions. Utilize digital tools that facilitate real-time collaboration and engagement. Encourage all team members to share their perspectives, leveraging the online platform to maintain a collaborative environment.

For effective planning poker, choose a scale based on project factors, limit tasks to 10 per session to prevent fatigue, use digital tools for remote collaboration, and foster mutual respect for estimates. Periodically review and adapt estimates as the project evolves—view planning poker as an ongoing learning process, akin to tuning an instrument for optimal performance.

For effective Planning Poker in Agile project management, it's better to choose a suitable estimation scale, limit tasks per session to avoid fatigue, use digital tools for remote teams, foster a respectful environment for opinions, encourage constructive feedback, regularly review and revise estimates, and embrace planning poker as a continuous, iterative process.

1. Consistency Across Teams: If you have multiple teams working on different parts of the project, strive for consistency in estimation practices across teams to facilitate better planning and coordination. 2. Keep it Fun: Maintain a positive and light hearted atmosphere during Planning Poker sessions. The gamified nature should be enjoyable, contributing to a positive team culture. 3. Avoid Analysis Paralysis: While discussions are valuable, avoid over analysing or spending too much time on a single estimation. If consensus is not reached quickly, consider re-voting or deferring the discussion to a later time.

During Planning poker, Keep a record of the estimates and discussions. This documentation is valuable for future reference and can aid in retrospectives and continuous improvement. This is one of the technique I follow regularly while we do planning poker.

Instead of relying solely on group consensus, embrace individual perspectives. Allow team members to unveil their cards simultaneously. It sparks valuable discussions, avoids groupthink, and ensures a diverse range of insights guide your Agile planning process.

The goal of Planning Poker is to avoid anchoring bias (being influenced by others' estimates) and to encourage each team member to provide their honest estimate. It fosters communication, shared understanding, and collaboration among team members, leading to more accurate and realistic estimations.

Consider using a digital tool for remote teams during Planning Poker. Encourage open dialogue about differing estimates to ensure everyone's voice is heard. Remember that the goal isn't just to reach a consensus but to foster understanding and uncover potential issues. Lastly, use the estimates and discussions from Planning Poker to improve future estimation and planning sessions.

While Planning Poker is a widely used technique in Agile project management, it's essential to be aware of potential disadvantages. This can be time consuming if the team is large or if there are complex user stories. This might impact overall productivity and extend the planning phase. Despite efforts to avoid biases, there can be instances where team members are influenced by others' estimates. This can lead to a lack of independent thinking and potentially inaccurate estimates This may not be suitable for projects with a high level of uncertainty, where requirements are constantly changing