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Planning Poker

Short Tip: Technique to estimate items of a Product Backlog (generally user stories).

What is it?

It is a technique commonly used by agile teams to estimate the items of a Product Backlog, generally user stories.

Why use it?

Proper estimation is a fundamental capability in product development. This allows teams to become more confident about their Sprint plans and makes the estimated size of Backlog items more reliable.

Planning Poker is currently the most popular technique used by Scrum teams and has two important characteristics.

The first is to allow estimates to be carried out independently by the participants. That is, all participants make their estimates at the same time, without the initial estimate of one participant influencing that of the other.

The second is that it is a comparative estimate, that is, the teams work with the estimation of an item in relation to another that has already been estimated. This ends up facilitating the execution of the process and brings greater objectivity in the discussion of the estimates.

How to use it?

PIM-Go provides the Planning Poker Wall Canvas to visually facilitate the execution of the process. The following steps are recommended:

  1. Make sure that an empty Planning Poker Wall Canvas is available to the team and select which Backlog items (user stories) will be estimated in the session;
  2. Collectively choose a Backlog item that is considered very simple and place it in column “1”.
  3. Select the next Backlog item to be estimated. At this point, the Product Owner should clarify any doubts that may exist about the requirement.
  4. The team vote simultaneously by selecting the number that best reflects the item’s size when compared to others already on the board.
  5. When different numbers are presented by the participants, conduct a discussion to understand the reason for the highest and lowest estimates. New rounds are executed until the estimates converge.
  6. Go back to item 3 and repeat the process for all other selected Backlog items.

Notes:

  • When Epics are selected for estimation, it is necessary to fragment them into smaller items. As it may not be possible to do this procedure during the session, this item must be placed in the “infinite” (∞) box for future refinement.
  • It is also common to have the Product Owner unable to clarify a certain requirement. In this case, that item must be moved to the “?” for future refinement.
  • The Planning Poker Wall Canvas can be used in digital whiteboard tools, such as Miro or Mural, or printed on the wall for face-to-face sessions.
  • The estimated values will be used by the team during the Sprint Planning session to evaluate the Backlog items that the team will be able to include in the Sprint, as well as to understand, over time, the team’s velocity.

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