What is scrum poker?
Planning poker, also known as Scrum poker, is a consensus-based, gamified estimation method that is most commonly used in software development to estimate effort or relative size of development goals. Instead of speaking aloud, members of the group make estimates by placing numbered cards face-down on the table during planning poker. The cards are unveiled, followed by a discussion of the estimates. The group can avoid the cognitive bias of anchoring, which occurs when the first number spoken aloud sets a precedent for subsequent estimates, by hiding the figures in this way.
How to play Scrum Poker?
The product owner or customer reads an agile user story or explains a feature to the estimators to begin a poker planning session.
Each estimator has a deck of Planning Poker cards with values such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, and 100, which is the recommended sequence. The numbers reflect the estimated number of story points, perfect days, or other units by the team.
The estimators talk about the feature and ask the product owner questions as needed. After the feature has been thoroughly debated, each estimator chooses a card to represent his or her estimate in private. After that, all of the cards are revealed at the same time.
The estimate is established if all estimators chose the same value. If this is not the case, the estimators will share their estimates. The reasons for the high and low estimates should be shared in particular. Each estimator reselects an estimate card after further debate, and all cards are unveiled at the same time.
The poker planning process is repeated until the estimators reach a consensus or until the estimators decide that agile estimation and planning of a specific item should be postponed until more information is available.
When planning poker will happen in scrum?
After an initial product backlog is written, most teams will hold a poker planning session. These sessions, which can last several days, are used to generate preliminary estimates that can help with project scoping and sizing.
Most teams find it useful to conduct subsequent agile estimation and planning sessions once per iteration because product backlog items — often in the form of user stories — will continue to be added throughout the project.
Because the entire team is still present, they are usually held a few days before the end of the iteration and immediately after a daily standup.
Does Planning Poker work?
Without a doubt. Teams that estimate with Planning Poker regularly report that their estimates are more accurate than any other method they’ve tried.
Because it puts together different expert views, Planning Poker leads to better estimates. These experts are better suited to the estimation task than anyone else because they form a cross-functional team from all disciplines on a software project.
Magne Jrgensen, Ph.D., of the Simula Research Lab, concluded after a thorough review of the literature on software estimation that “the people most competent in solving the task should estimate it.”
Second, during poker planning, there is a lively discussion, and estimators are challenged by their peers to explain their estimates. Researchers have discovered that this improves estimate accuracy, particularly on items with a high degree of uncertainty, such as most software projects.
Furthermore, asking people to explain their estimates has been shown to produce estimates that better compensate for missing data. On an agile project, this is critical because the user stories being estimated are often deliberately ambiguous.
Furthermore, studies have shown that averaging individual estimates during agile estimation and planning, as well as group discussions of estimates, produces better results.
How can I get Planning Poker cards?
If you prefer a physical poker, you can try ZenTao poker.
Heart, Spade, Diamond, and Club. Each suit is for one player.
14 cards in each suit, 0.5, 1–10, 20(J), 30(Q), 40(K).
Special card, ? (questions), Big (too big), Cafe(break).
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