Planning Poker

5 minutes 5 Questions

Planning Poker is a collaborative game that team members play to reach consensus in the estimations. Each team member has a set of poker cards with values like 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40 and 100, which represent the Story points. The Product Owner describes the story that needs to be estimated, a…

Guide to Planning Poker, PMI-ACP Agile Estimation Technique

What is Planning Poker:
Planning Poker is a consensus-based agile estimation technique. It is a fun and interactive method to estimate effort or relative size of tasks in software development. Planning Poker combines expert opinion, analogy, and disaggregation into an enjoyable approach to estimating that results in quick but reliable estimates.

Why it is Important:
Planning Poker encourages team collaboration and ensures that all voices are heard. It promotes healthy discussion on task details and reduces bias in estimates, making it a preferred tool in agile project environments.

How it Works:
Planning Poker involves the following steps:

Each estimator is given a set of Planning Poker Cards, each card representing a valid estimate.
The item for estimation is presented and discussed.
Each estimator privately selects a card representing their estimate.
Cards are revealed simultaneously.
If estimates vary widely, a discussion is held. The high and low estimators justify their estimates and the process repeats until a consensus is reached.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Planning Poker:

Understanding the steps in the Planning Poker process is crucial.
Remember that the goal of Planning Poker is to reach consensus, not to arrive at an exact estimate.
It is important to note that Planning Poker is a tool for promoting discussion and collaboration, not a mandate on how long a task should take.

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PMI-ACP - Planning Poker Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Planning Poker

Question 1

A team has assigned effort scores during planning poker, but the majority of scores are followed by a long period of silence. What should the team do?

Delay the planning poker session and complete it later. Change the estimations to the average of the scores. Ask the team leader to re-assign scores based on their judgement. Encourage team members to voice their thoughts and engage in discussion. Assume the scores are accurate and move on. Restart the planning poker process with different user stories.

Correct Answer: Encourage team members to voice their thoughts and engage in discussion.

Planning poker relies on open communication and collaboration among team members. Encouraging members to share their thoughts and engage in discussion can help reach an accurate consensus.

Question 2

During a planning poker, a team member suggests an estimate significantly lower than the rest of the team. What should the Scrum Master do?

Encourage the team member to share insights that led to the lower estimate to foster understanding. Recommend that the team adopts a consensus-based approach, arguing for a compromise until an agreement is found, which may involve adjusting estimates up or down based on the discussion. Suggest that the team uses a weighted voting system to decide on the estimate. Propose to split the task into smaller tasks and estimate those instead.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team member to share insights that led to the lower estimate to foster understanding.

The correct approach is to encourage open communication and understanding among team members. This ensures that all perspectives are considered and helps the team learn from each other. Suggesting a weighted voting system might prioritize the opinions of certain members over others, which can stifle open discussion. Splitting the task could avoid the issue rather than addressing the discrepancy in understanding the task's complexity. Recommending a purely consensus-based approach could lead to unnecessary compromises that might not accurately reflect the team's understanding of the work involved.

Question 3

During a Planning Poker session, the team cannot come to a consensus on an estimate because one member strongly believes the task is more complicated than others do. How should the Scrum Master handle this?

Ask the team to vote again expecting that they change their estimates in favor of the concerned team member. Ignore the team member's opinion and go with the majority estimate. Encourage the team member to share his concerns and reasons, promoting a constructive discussion for others to possibly reassess their estimates. Tell the team member that they are mistaken and should conform to the group's estimate.

Correct Answer: Encourage the team member to share his concerns and reasons, promoting a constructive discussion for others to possibly reassess their estimates.

The best way to handle a disagreement in a Planning Poker session is to promote open communication. The Scrum Master should encourage the team member to voice their concerns and explain why they believe the task is more complicated. This could lead to a constructive discussion, which might even cause others to reassess their estimates. Ignoring the member's opinion ([Answer text: 'Ignore the team member's opinion and go with the majority estimate.']) or telling them they are wrong and to conform to the majority ([Answer text: 'Tell the team member that they are mistaken and should conform to the group's estimate.']) would not promote open communication and could lead to tension within the team. Voting again in the hopes that the team will support the concerned member's opinion ([Answer text: 'Ask the team to vote again expecting that they change their estimates in favor of the concerned team member.']) is not a constructive approach and does not address the underlying reasons for the disagreement.

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