Planning Poker

What Is Planning Poker

A consensus-based estimation method (a game) used to estimate effort for Scrum iteration tasks. By evaluating together as a team, the variance becomes smaller.

Implementation Steps

Roles

Round 1

• 1. PM explains the story
• 2. RD / FE place numbered cards face down; Scrum Master calls reveal and everyone flips at once (Fibonacci values: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40)
• 3. Explain estimation differences and discuss
• 4. Reach consensus

Round 2

• 1. For stories with differing points, RD / FE explain their estimation differences and reach consensus
• 2. Scrum Master writes the final story points into the story list
• 3. Everyone ranks priorities and fills them into the story list

Fibonacci Sequence and Planning Poker

Planning poker uses the Fibonacci sequence as story points. The Fibonacci sequence is a numeric series introduced in the 13th century that explains certain formations in nature, like branching in trees. Each next value is the sum of the previous two: 0, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, etc.

For agile estimation, some values are adjusted, resulting in the following series: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, 100, as shown below:

Point convention: 1 Story Point ~= 1 person-day in ideal conditions (based on average team capability).