Several projects fail or get interrupted due to a lack of team collaboration or having a different mindset. The most challenging is the estimation process, where all the project managers, testers, and developers get stuck. They find it difficult to estimate how much effort is required to complete a specific task.
Estimation sounds easy but having your numbers right can be tricky. Estimation can be helpful if done right. Else, it can change the whole game, and you have to face failure. With estimation, you can handle large and complex projects by dividing them into smaller, manageable ones.
Having proper estimation on the table puts much pressure on the team. They not only have to make efforts but also consider several factors to get to the correct estimation. A popular agile technique- Planning Poker was introduced to eliminate this problem. It has changed the game entirely by making the estimation straightforward. Many teams have adopted this technique to streamline their estimation process. For implementing Planning Poker within your projects, you should consider enrolling for Agile courses.
Planning Poker is one of the commonly used agile estimation techniques that has helped several teams to estimate the required time and effort to complete a project. The name comes from the game “poker”, which you might have heard. The name is justified as it includes playing cards. Each team member is involved in doing the estimation planning.
Planning Poker cards, estimate the number of story points supporting each story, and then start the discussion to conclude the estimation. This technique was designed to help companies estimate timelines accurately and enhance teamwork.
Though Planning Poker session is fun and morale-boosting, everyone in the software industry knows the value of collaboration and interaction to be on the same page and deliver products quickly. Adopting Planning Poker within your project will ensure adherence to all the agile principles.
Below is the Planning Poker example:
In 2002, Planning Poker came into the picture when James Grenning believed it might help eliminate the boredom of team members while discussing projects. He found that meetings are slow and tedious, and there is nothing to engage the team members and be productive. He also observed that in any meeting, some two or three people discuss and decide the estimates while others are sitting idle.
Planning Poker was introduced to involve the remaining ones and their views about the estimate. This way, the complete team members know what is going on, the user's requirements, the resources available, and other details. Planning Poker technique not only removes the boredom but also reduces the time taken to decide on an estimate.
But the technique got popular after it was mentioned in Mountain Goat Software's Mike Cohn in his book Agile Estimating and Planning. He also mentioned "Planning Poker" and emphasized its usage within software teams.
Planning Poker was also recognized by names such as pointing poker, Scrum Poker, and Estimation Poker. This game has closed the gap between members and brought them closer so they can share their perspectives. Undoubtedly, it has improved the rate of delivering projects with fewer bugs.
So, starting the Planning Poker scale session, you must do the following for better results. If you wonder what the correct order of steps are during Planning Poker, check below:
This way, the group tries to figure out the details and requirements of the user. It helps them to understand the task and find the most suitable way to delegate it.
Several Planning Poker estimation techniques are used for implementing within your project, depending on the requirement. Below are the techniques being and how they work:
It is based on a statistical method where the team divides the complex task into smaller tasks and then carries out three different types of estimation on each sub-task. Below is the formula to calculate the test estimate:
Test Estimate = (O + (4 × M) + E)/6
Where,
To calculate the Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation (SD) = (E − O)/6
It is based on use cases where we calculate the unadjusted actor weights and unadjusted use case weights to get the software testing estimation.
Use-case is a document specifying different users and stakeholders interacting with the application, known as "Actors". This technique includes the following steps:
Unadjusted Actor Weights = Total no. of Actors
Unadjusted Use-Case Weights = Total no. of Use-Cases
Calculate unadjusted use-case points as
Unadjusted Use-Case Points = (Unadjusted Actor Weights + Unadjusted Use-Case Weights)
Adjusted Use-Case Point = Unadjusted Use-Case Points × [0.65 + (0.01 × TEF]
Total Effort = Adjusted Use-Case Point × 2
Follow the below steps to calculate the estimate:
This technique creates a small team of 3-6 people, and then WBS is distributed among them. They will re-estimate the tasks. Later, they prepare the final estimate with all the summarization. This estimate is not mathematically but more of an experienced task, where team members discuss to conclude the final estimation.
This method was popularized by Barry Boehm, who emphasizes group iteration to reach a conclusion with proper Effort and time taken.
Function point specifies the application's functionality from the user's point of view. This technique is also used to calculate the estimate of the project. In the testing case, the estimate is based on the user's requirement or the previous prototype. But in this case, some components need to be calculated, such as.
In this technique, each SDLC phase is assigned in terms of percent. The percentage is based on past data from similar projects. For example:
| Phase | % of Effort |
|---|---|
| Project Management | 7% |
| Requirements | 9% |
| Design | 16% |
| Coding | 26% |
| Testing (all Test Phases) | 27% |
| Documentation | 9% |
| Installation and Training | 6% |
Next, % of effort for testing (all test phases) is further distributed for all Testing Phases −
| All Testing Phases | % of Effort |
|---|---|
| Component Testing | 16 |
| Independent Testing | 84 |
| Total | 100 |
| Independent Testing | % of Effort |
|---|---|
| Integration Testing | 24 |
| System Testing | 52 |
| Acceptance Testing | 24 |
| Total | 100 |
| System Testing | % of Effort |
|---|---|
| Functional System Testing | 65 |
| Non-functional System Testing | 35 |
| Total | 100 |
| Test Planning and Design Architecture | 50% |
| Review phase | 50% |
This method is used by experts who calculate estimates based on their experience.
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In most teams, the Planning Poker session is conducted just after they write the backlog for the initial product. These Planning Poker sessions can take several days, depending on the requirement and estimation calculated. If the project is complex with many components, there will be several smaller tasks to estimate.
Generally, all the product backlogs are in story form. This backlog keeps on increasing after the user adds some requirements. In that case, teams have to work parallely in calculating the estimation once per iteration.
Planning Poker sessions are mostly conduct a few days before the iteration ends and just after following a daily standup as the team is still working together and have an understanding of the requirement.
Below are some pitfalls of implementing Planning Poker:
Some Planning Poker online tools can be considered to run estimates for your software application:
Below are some significant benefits of sprint Planning Poker that influence you to adopt it within your software applications:
Below are the members participating in the Planning Poker in the scrum:
Well, there are many online resources that you can consider getting along with Planning Poker cards. Every resource focuses on the same method, including the below-mentioned steps:
Planning Poker in agile is a very common methodology that lets you estimate the time and effort required to deliver the project. It has helped many teams and organizations to deliver timely projects with fewer bugs. It was released in 2002 and has made its special place in all software companies. You can leverage some of the scrum Planning Poker online free tools.
This technique eliminates boredom and lets the team member enjoy the meeting with solid results. For more details on Planning Poker, you can join KnowledgeHut’s Agile courses. The most important thing is that everyone can participate and share their thoughts on how to start working on the task. Everyone will get the opportunity to prove their worth and especially in a fun way.
The default scale for Planning Poker is the Fibonacci scale– 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and 34.
The coffee break card is used when an estimator wants to pause in between to take a break. “0” specifies that item is already done.
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