Planning Poker
Overview
Planning Poker is an agile estimation technique built into NASA Team Meetings. It enables teams to collaboratively estimate story points using Fibonacci sequence voting with hidden votes and simultaneous reveal.
Planning Poker is available in Team Meetings only. Standup meetings do not include this feature.
How Planning Poker Works
Planning Poker uses hidden voting to prevent anchoring bias. Each participant selects their estimate independently, and all votes are revealed at the same time. This encourages honest, unbiased estimates from every team member.
No configuration is required. Planning Poker is enabled by default for all Team Meeting streams and cannot be disabled.
Voting Scale
The estimation uses the Fibonacci sequence with two special options:
Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 | Story point estimates (Fibonacci sequence) |
? | "I need more information" - you have the technical knowledge but lack sufficient context to estimate |
Coffee cup | "Outside my expertise" - the work falls outside your skill set |
Timer
Each estimation session runs a fixed 2-minute timer. When the timer expires, it stops counting but does not force a reveal. The facilitator (Scrum Master or Coverer) decides when to reveal votes and can wait for further discussion if needed.
Starting a Planning Poker Session
During a live Team Meeting, hover over any Jira issue in your agenda to reveal the Estimate button.
To start estimation:
Hover over a Jira issue during the live meeting.
Click the Estimate button that appears.
The Planning Poker panel opens on the right side, showing the issue summary, description, voting cards, and a 2-minute timer.
Voting
Once a Planning Poker session is active, all meeting participants see the voting cards in the estimation panel.
Each participant:
Reviews the issue summary and description in the estimation panel.
Selects a Fibonacci estimate (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21), the question mark (?), or the coffee cup.
Votes remain hidden from other participants until the facilitator reveals them.
The facilitator can pause or reset the timer using the controls next to the voting cards.
Revealing Results
After participants have voted, the facilitator submits the estimation to reveal all votes simultaneously.
When results are revealed:
Each participant's vote is displayed with their name.
The average estimation is calculated and shown.
If "Add estimation comments to Jira issue" is checked, the results are posted as a comment on the Jira issue.
Handling Disagreements
If votes show a wide spread:
Ask the highest and lowest voters to explain their reasoning.
Identify any missing information or misunderstandings.
Start a new estimation round after discussion if needed.
Results and Jira Integration
After estimation, the results appear inline below the issue in the meeting view.
The estimation results are:
Displayed below the issue in the meeting view with individual votes and the average.
Posted to the NASA comments section automatically.
Optionally posted to the Jira issue as a comment (controlled by the checkbox in the estimation panel).
Editable by the facilitator using the edit icon next to each result.
The facilitator can set the final story points on the issue using the Story Point Context Fields.
When to Use Each Special Vote
Question mark (?):
The requirements are unclear or incomplete.
You need to see dependencies or acceptance criteria before estimating.
The scope is ambiguous and needs further discussion.
Coffee cup:
The task is outside your area of expertise (e.g., a designer estimating a backend task).
You are attending for awareness but cannot contribute a meaningful estimate.
Using this signal helps identify when the wrong team members are being asked to estimate.