What is Planning Poker?

Planning Poker (also called Scrum Poker) is a consensus-based estimation technique used by agile software teams to estimate the effort or complexity of work items.

How It Works

1. A moderator presents a task — typically a user story or bug
2. Each team member privately selects a card representing their estimate
3. All cards are revealed simultaneously — preventing anchoring bias
4. The team discusses — especially when estimates diverge
5. Re-vote if needed until the team reaches consensus

The simultaneous reveal is the key innovation. By hiding estimates until everyone has voted, Planning Poker prevents senior team members from anchoring the group’s thinking.

Why Use It?

Benefit	Description
Reduces bias	No one is influenced by seeing others’ estimates first
Encourages discussion	Outlier estimates spark valuable conversations about hidden complexity
Fast consensus	Most items converge in 1–2 rounds
Team engagement	Everyone participates, not just the loudest voices
Better accuracy	Group estimates outperform individual expert estimates over time

Estimation Scales

Planning Poker uses non-linear scales to reflect the increasing uncertainty of larger tasks:

• Fibonacci — 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 — the most popular scale, with gaps that grow as estimates increase
• Linear — 1 through 10 — simpler but less nuanced for large items
• T-Shirt sizes — XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL — great for rough, relative sizing

Why Fibonacci?

The Fibonacci sequence naturally models how estimation uncertainty grows. The difference between a “5” and an “8” reflects real uncertainty — you can’t meaningfully distinguish a “6” from a “7” at that scale.

Special Cards

Most decks include special cards beyond numeric values:

• ? (Question mark) — “I don’t have enough information to estimate this”
• (Coffee break) — “I need a break” (Fibonacci deck only)

When to Use Planning Poker

Planning Poker works best for:

• Sprint planning sessions
• Backlog refinement / grooming
• Estimating new features or epics
• Any scenario where the team needs shared understanding of effort

It’s less suited for:

• Trivially small items everyone agrees on
• Highly technical tasks only one person understands
• Time-boxed exercises where speed matters more than accuracy (try T-Shirt sizing instead)

Planning Poker vs. Other Techniques

Technique	Speed	Accuracy	Discussion
Planning Poker	Medium	High	Rich
T-Shirt Sizing	Fast	Low–Medium	Light
Dot Voting	Fast	Low	Minimal
Expert Estimate	Fastest	Variable	None
Affinity Mapping	Slow	Medium	Rich

Planning Poker strikes the best balance between speed and accuracy for most teams.