Planning Poker: Let's Play the Agile Way!

Hello, Agile community! Welcome to another edition of our weekly newsletter, "The Agile Mindset - Get inspired to adopt the Agile mindset and transform the way you work." Whether you're a Scrum Master, a team member, or just curious about Agile, today's issue, "Planning Poker: Let's Play the Agile Way!" is just for you! We'll walk through my own experiences, clear up common misunderstandings, share helpful tips, and point out what to avoid when using planning poker. Remember, in Agile, challenges are just chances to learn. So, get ready! We're about to dive into the exciting world of planning poker, turning hurdles into victories for our Agile team.

Planning Poker, also known as Scrum Poker, is an essential Agile tool to estimate the effort or size of user stories. It's a simple, fun, and effective way to break down work and get a consensus within the team. In this interactive process, each team member uses a set of cards, digital or physical, with numbers on them that represent the effort required for a particular task. The magic of Planning Poker lies not just in the numbers, but in the discussions and shared understanding it fosters within the team. However, like any tool or technique, it comes with its own set of misconceptions and pitfalls if not used correctly.

Misconceptions

Planning Poker, like any Agile practice, comes with its own set of misconceptions that can hinder its effectiveness and lead to misguided practices. Understanding these misconceptions is the first step towards ensuring that your team can utilize Planning Poker to its fullest potential. Let's delve into these misconceptions one by one:

1. Story Points Equal Hours: Many often believe that story points and hours are interchangeable. However, story points embody complexity, risk, and uncertainty, not just time. If a team sticks with this misconception, they risk misestimating effort and may experience frequent delivery delays. It may also lead to micromanagement, as team members may feel pressured to fit their work into predefined time blocks.
2. Universal Story Points: The belief that story points should be consistent across all teams is another common misunderstanding. In reality, story points reflect a particular team's experience, skills, and working style. If an organization tries to standardize story points across all teams, it could lead to inaccurate estimates and unfair comparisons between teams. This could negatively impact team morale and productivity.
3. The Higher the Points, the Longer it Takes: Higher story points do not necessarily mean a longer duration. A task with high story points might be completed quicker if the person assigned has the right expertise. If this misconception prevails, the team may delay starting high-point tasks due to the fear of extended timelines, leading to inefficient planning and possibly creating project bottlenecks.
4. Planning Poker is a Detailed Planning Session: Planning Poker is a space for estimating story complexity, not for discussing every tiny detail of implementation. If planning poker sessions consistently digress into granular planning, it could lead to long meetings, drained team members, and decreased enthusiasm, resulting in less effective estimations and slowed progress.
5. Points Assignment is the Scrum Master's or Product Owner's Job: Contrary to popular belief, story-pointing is a team sport. It's about achieving consensus to promote a shared understanding of the work. If the task of assigning points is relegated to one or two roles, it can lead to a lack of collective ownership and understanding of tasks, which can result in skewed estimations and a lack of team harmony.
6. Story Points are Set in Stone: Story points aren't immutable. If a story's complexity changes, the team should feel free to adjust the points accordingly. If teams stick to initial story points, even when changes occur, it may lead to misaligned expectations and a lack of adaptability, ultimately impacting the quality of delivered work.

Common Pitfalls in Planning Poker

Stepping beyond misconceptions, there are certain practices in Planning Poker that, although not inherently misconstrued, can steer teams off track if not handled correctly. These bad practices often arise from well-intentioned efforts but can gradually erode the effectiveness of your planning poker sessions. Here, we'll shine a light on these, arming you with the knowledge to nip them in the bud.

• Influenced Estimation: Sometimes, team members might inadvertently reveal their estimates prematurely, influencing the estimates of others. A team member might verbally share their estimate or reveal their card too soon, swaying the others towards their viewpoint. This practice can lead to groupthink, resulting in underestimation or overestimation of tasks and ultimately impacting the team's productivity and delivery timelines.
• Reducing Estimations: It's not uncommon for a Product Owner or Scrum Master to challenge and try to reduce the team's estimations. While questioning for clarity is healthy, pressuring the team to lower estimates is not. Over time, this could lead to a culture of underestimation, creating unrealistic expectations, constant pressure, and potentially poorer quality of work.
• Ignoring the Base Story: Teams should have a base story—a previously completed task against which new tasks can be estimated. However, some teams don't regularly revisit their base story, which can cause estimations to drift over time. If teams neglect their base story, their estimates may become inconsistent over time, leading to unpredictability in their delivery schedules and potential distrust from stakeholders.
• Not Adapting to Changes: Agile is all about adaptability. If a team sticks to its initial story points, even when the complexity of a story changes, it defeats the purpose of agility. A lack of adaptability can lead to a misalignment between expectations and reality, affecting the quality of work and the team's credibility.
• Neglecting Learning Opportunities: Planning Poker sessions should also be seen as learning opportunities. If a team solely focuses on estimation and ignores the chance to learn from each other, they miss out on valuable growth opportunities. Overlooking learning opportunities can hamper the team's growth and ability to improve their future estimations, leading to stagnation.

These practices might seem harmless or even efficient shortcuts at first glance, but their long-term impacts can take a toll on your team's performance and morale. It's important to keep these in check to ensure that your Planning Poker sessions remain a cornerstone of your team's Agile journey.

Mastering the Game: Best Practices for Planning Poker

Having cleared up misconceptions and steered clear of the common pitfalls, let's now focus on how to ace your Planning Poker sessions. Here are some best practices that can help your team get the most out of this valuable estimation tool. When used right, Planning Poker can be a powerful instrument to build consensus, align expectations, and foster team learning.

1. Wait to Reveal: To prevent influence on each other's estimations, ensure that all team members reveal their story points simultaneously. This way, each estimate is the result of independent thinking.
2. Respect Team Estimates: As a Product Owner or Scrum Master, it's essential to respect the team's estimates. Question to understand, not to challenge or reduce their estimates.
3. Revisit the Base Story Regularly: Regularly revisit your base story to ensure your team has a consistent reference point for their estimates.
4. Re-Estimate as Needed: Agile is about adaptability. If a story changes, don't be afraid to re-estimate its story points.
5. Value Learning Opportunities: Utilize Planning Poker sessions as learning opportunities. Encourage questions, explanations, and open discussions.
6. Promote Open Discussions: Planning Poker is more than just estimation—it's a discussion tool. Promote open conversations about each story, its risks, complexities, and unknowns.
7. Avoid Marathon Sessions: Avoid turning your Planning Poker into marathon sessions to prevent fatigue and maintain focus. Break it up if there are too many stories to estimate.

The Winning Hand: The Core Essence of Planning Poker

As we wrap up, I'd like you to hold onto one key point from our deep dive into Planning Poker. It’s not only about getting estimates or assigning story points.

The core essence of Planning Poker lies in fostering healthy communication and achieving shared understanding within the team.

In every round of Planning Poker, remember that the real victory is not just arriving at an estimate, but cultivating a space for open dialogue and collective decision-making. When we understand, respect, and incorporate each other's perspectives, we don’t just estimate work - we become a more cohesive, effective team.

So, go ahead, deal with the cards, participate actively, and treasure the shared understanding that comes with every round. Until our next Agile adventure, keep the spirit of collaboration alive!