What is Planning Poker?
It is a technique used to estimate effort.
Definition
Planning Poker is a technique used in Agile teams to estimate the effort required to complete a user story or task.
Estimation
The technique involves team members using a deck of cards to individually estimate the effort, then discussing and re-estimating until consensus is reached.
Importance
The true significance of this technique lies not in the score reached, but in the dialogue it fosters within the team.
Agile
It is commonly associated with Scrum and Extreme Programming - XP.
Fibonacci
The cards in the deck often follow the Fibonacci sequence to reflect the uncertainty in the estimation process and employ a relative measure that does not relate to time.
Introduction
The team member most familiar with a particular user story provides a brief overview, and the team may ask questions to clarify.
Estimation
Each team member selects a card from their deck to represent their individual estimate without revealing it to the rest of the team to prevent swaying others.
Discussion
The team discusses the estimates, aiming to understand any discrepancies or polarity and reach a consensus.