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What is Planning Poker for Jira?
Planning poker is a popular agile estimation technique used to estimate the development time of requirements or tasks. This technique is commonly used in software development teams to help them determine the amount of time and resources needed to complete a project.
This technique aims to reduce the risk associated with inaccurate estimates by getting the entire team to work together to come up with a consensus on the size of a work item. Planning poker is a great way to ensure that everyone on the team understands the requirements and the necessary steps to complete the task.
Planning Poker for Jira is an add-on or plugin for the Jira software development tool that enables teams to use the consensus-based estimating technique directly within Jira. AgileBox’s Planning Poker is one of the best options when your teams look for a solution to use this technique in Jira.
It allows team members to estimate the effort required to complete a task or project using a deck of cards with numbers, similar to the traditional Planning Poker technique. The estimates are then recorded and tracked in Jira, allowing for better project management and tracking. The Planning Poker for Jira by AgileBox includes timeboxing, custom card decks, and creating sprints.
How Planning Poker for Jira benefits your team?
There are several benefits of using Planning Poker in agile project management, including:
- Accurate estimation: It helps to achieve more accurate estimates by allowing team members to share their knowledge and expertise. By involving the whole team in the estimation process, your teams can avoid the biases and blind spots which arise from relying on a single person’s estimate.
- Collaborative: It is a collaborative technique that promotes communication and discussion among team members. It could identify potential issues and risks early on in the project and create a shared understanding of the work involved.
- Time-saving: It can save time by reducing the need for extensive documentation and meetings. It could streamline the planning process and prevent delays by involving the entire team in the estimation process.
- Fun and engaging: It is a fun and interactive technique that encourages team members to participate in the estimation process. This can increase engagement and motivation among team members.
- Consistent: It helps create consistency in the estimation process using a standardized approach, such as the Fibonacci sequence. This can ensure that estimates are comparable across different backlog items and sprints.
Planning Poker is an effective technique for estimating and prioritizing backlog items in agile project management. It promotes collaboration and equal participation among team members, leads to more accurate estimates, and helps identify gaps in requirements and implementation early in the project lifecycle.
Beginner’s Guide to Planning Poker by AgileBox
01. How to download Planning Poker by AgileBox
To access Planning Poker for Jira, downloading the AgileBox app from the Atlassian Marketplace is the first thing to do since Planning Poker is one of AgileBox’s features. Click here to download AgileBox now: Agile Planning Poker, Retrospectives, Daily Standup for Jira
Here are the steps to download:
- Log into your Jira instance.
- Click the Apps dropdown and choose Explore more apps.
The Discover apps screen loads. - Search for Agile Planning Poker, Retrospectives, Daily Standup for Jira and click on the app title.
The App Details screen loads. - Click Try it free to start installing your app.
- You’re all set!
Click Close in the Installed and ready to go dialog.
02. Find the Planning Poker feature
There are two ways to enter the Planning Poker feature as well as the AgileBox app:
- From the app home page
Click on Apps, find the AgileBox in the dropdown list, and choose a project. - From the Project sidebar menu
Click on the AgileBox button in the menu on the left side to open the app.
After access to the AgileBox app, the Planning Poker feature is ready to use without changing any tab.
03. Create New Game
Before creating a new game, you should have the issues located in the Un-estimated Issues column, and then drag and drop the issues your team wants to estimate to the Picked to Estimate column.
After collecting all the issues needed to estimate, click the Create game button to set up the game. Here are the components you need to know before setting up:
- Game name: Give the appropriate name for your team estimation game
- Date and time: Choose the most suitable date and time for everyone to join the meeting
- Countdown timer: Set the timer for each issues estimation
- Description: Give a detailed description of the meeting
- Field to write the estimation: Select the custom field to write the estimated point of the issues.
- Deck type: Choose between 3 types of deck size: Fibonacci sequence, T-shirt size or Custom Deck
- Issues: Select the issues from the list your team wants to estimate in the meeting
- Teams: Quick select the entire team from your created team on the AgileBox app
- Participants: Select participants for the meeting
After filling in the game setup, click Create to create the Planning Poker game. You can look for your created game in the Games tab.
Your selected team or participants will receive the announcement via email after you successfully create the Planning Poker meeting.
04. Start estimation with the team
Start estimating the issues by accessing the Game tab and clicking the Join button. Then click on the Estimate now button to enter the game.
- Click on the issue in the To Estimate box on the right and click the Start button to start estimating
- Everyone should choose one card to estimate story points based on their opinion about that issue
- When the timer is over or the Product Owner finishes the game, the result panel will appear and give the options to Restart, Split, or Submit
- When you click Submit, the issue will disappear on the Estimate tab; you can find it in the Gamelog tab
05. Live chat function
During the estimation progress with Planning Poker, teams can communicate easily without switching to another app with the Live Chat function added.
Find it in the Live Chat box in the bottom right corner when in the game tab.
This allows team members to communicate in real-time during estimation sessions, leading to more efficient and effective collaboration.
06. Create Sprint
After finishing the estimation of all issues in the meeting, you can find them in the Estimated column in the Gamelog tab.
We provide a function to create Sprint directly from the Planning Poker for Jira by AgileBox.
Just click the Create Sprint button and drag and drop the estimated issues into the Create Sprint box, then click the Create button to fill in the required field to finish.
Conclusion
Planning Poker for Jira is a popular agile estimation technique for estimating development time. The AgileBox’s add-on allows teams to use this technique directly within Jira, providing benefits such as accurate estimation, collaboration, time-saving, engagement, and consistency. Download AgileBox from the Atlassian Marketplace to access the feature and create a game with issues to estimate. Then, start estimating with the team by selecting cards and submitting results.
Try out the best features of our Planning Poker with AgileBox here: Agile Planning Poker, Retrospectives, Daily Standup for Jira
Watch this video for more details and instructions:
