How to run planning poker

If the team is prepared, a round takes a couple of minutes. If not, it can drag on for half an hour. It usually comes down to one thing: whether everyone knows what exactly is being estimated. Below is an order that works in a meeting room and on a call.

What to prepare in advance

A team will take a long time to size an item it is seeing for the first time. Collect the list beforehand. Every entry should have a sentence or two of description and a clear definition of done.

Five to fifteen items is a reasonable amount for one session. With more, people get tired halfway through and start picking estimates just to finish.

A list of items, each with a short description.
A reference item whose size the team already agrees on. Everything else is compared to it.
An agreement on the deck and on what counts as the round result: median or average.
A facilitator who keeps track of the queue, asks questions and records the result.

The facilitator’s job

The facilitator does not estimate. They keep the round in order: name the item, let people ask questions, wait for the cards, reveal them and record the result.

Their main job is to keep the round from turning into a design discussion. How to build the item is a separate conversation, and it takes much longer. When the team drifts into architecture, the facilitator asks: “Is that enough to name a size?”

The round itself

The order is simple, and every step matters:

Name the item and give the team thirty seconds for questions.
Wait until everybody has picked a card. Do not reveal early: one open card spoils the whole round.
Reveal all cards at the same time.
If the spread is narrow, record the result and move on.
If the spread is wide, let the people with the extreme estimates speak, a minute each.
Run the round again. A third round is almost never needed. If the team still disagrees after the second, the item should be split.

What to do about a wide spread

A spread is the most useful result of a round. A “one” and an “eight” on the same item mean two people pictured two different items. Find out which ones.

There are usually three causes. Someone knows about hidden complexity: a migration, another team’s service, old code. Someone does not know where the item ends. Or the wording can be read two ways. All three are solved by clarifying the item.

Do not take the average just to close the question. The average of one and eight describes neither of the items people had in mind.

How long it should take

An item everybody understands the same way is sized in a minute. A disputed one takes three to five. If you are ten minutes in, the team is discussing the solution. Take it to a separate meeting and mark the item as needing clarification.

A timer makes time visible. The team notices on its own when a fifth minute goes into a single item.

Common mistakes

There are only a few, and they repeat from team to team.

Estimating in hours. Everyone’s hours are different, while points are shared by the team.
Revealing cards one by one. That is voting out loud again, only slower.
Re-estimating an item after it is done. An estimate reflects what you knew before the work started.
Inviting people who will not do the work. Their cards add little to the conversation.
Estimating an item with no description. Clarify it first.