1_Introduction
- Tim Uhlott
Introduction
Welcome to Poker Story – Scrum Poker for Jira, a collaborative estimation tool designed to help Agile teams estimate story points or task complexity in a fun, accurate, and engaging way supported by AI.
What is Scrum Poker?
Scrum Poker (also known as Planning Poker) is a technique used by Agile teams to collectively estimate the effort or relative size of user stories or tasks. The core idea is to leverage the team's combined expertise to arrive at a shared understanding and estimate.
Key Principles & Benefits of the Scrum Poker Methodology:
Shared Understanding: Promotes in-depth discussion, ensuring everyone on the team comprehends the scope of work.
Assumption Identification: Helps uncover differing assumptions, knowledge gaps, and potential risks early in the process.
Collective Wisdom: Leverages the entire team's knowledge and experience for more accurate and reliable estimates.
Reduced Anchoring Bias: Simultaneous revelation of estimates minimizes the influence of any single individual's initial opinion.
Team Buy-in: As estimates are a collective agreement, it fosters greater team commitment.
Focus on Relative Sizing: Encourages thinking about the relative effort of items compared to others, rather than absolute time. Estimates are often in "story points," representing complexity and effort, not just time.
How Poker Story Works
Poker Story brings the Scrum Poker methodology into a structured session:
Session Setup: The Organizer creates and configures a Poker Story session, selecting the estimation deck and issues to be estimated, and inviting Members.
Item Discussion: The team discusses the issue (user story or task) at hand to clarify requirements and scope.
Private Estimation: Each participant privately selects an estimation card from the chosen deck that represents their individual assessment of the item's effort or complexity.
Simultaneous Reveal: Once everyone has voted, the Organizer reveals all estimations simultaneously.
Discussion & Consensus:
If estimates are similar, a consensus is quickly reached.
If estimates vary significantly, the team (especially those with high and low estimates) discusses their reasoning. This helps align understanding.
Re-voting (if necessary): The team may re-vote on the item until a satisfactory consensus is achieved.
Finalizing Estimate: The agreed-upon estimate is recorded.
This structured process within Poker Story enhances shared understanding, encourages valuable discussion, and leads to more accurate and collectively owned estimations.
Estimation Values: The Card Decks in Poker Story
Poker Story allows you to choose from common estimation scales for your cards. These values represent the effort or complexity of a task:
🟢 Standard Fibonacci
Values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89
Use: Based on the Fibonacci sequence, this is a widely used scale in Agile story point estimation, reflecting the increasing uncertainty with larger items.
🟣 T-Shirt Sizes
Values: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
Use: Useful for high-level, less granular, or relative sizing when precise numbers aren't needed.
✅ You can switch between available decks as needed in the Poker Story Settings section.
User Roles in a Poker Story Session
Poker Story defines two main roles to ensure smooth and effective estimation sessions:
🧑💼 Organizer
The Organizer initiates, manages, and guides the estimation session.
Key Responsibilities:
Create & Configure Session: Select the estimation deck, choose issues for estimation, and invite participants.
Manage Estimation Flow: Start estimation rounds, control the revealing of votes, and facilitate discussions.
Finalize Estimates: Record or submit the final agreed-upon story point values.
Close Session: End the session once all designated issues have been estimated.
👥 Member
A Member is an active participant who contributes to the estimation process.
Key Responsibilities:
Join Session: Access the provided session link to participate.
Submit Estimations: Review each issue and privately select an estimation value.
Engage in Discussion: Actively share reasoning, ask questions, and collaborate with teammates to reach a consensus.
Revise Estimates (if needed): Be open to adjusting your vote based on group discussion and new insights.
Follow Organizer’s Lead: Participate according to the session flow directed by the Organizer.
Now, you should have a clear understanding of how Poker Story works, what a session entails, and the roles involved. Ready to start your first session? Let’s move on to Create Session!