Planning poker has been a staple of agile estimation for decades. But with the shift to remote work, teams need new strategies to make these sessions effective when participants aren't in the same room.
Why Remote Planning Poker Is Different
In-person planning poker benefits from:
- Physical cards that everyone reveals simultaneously
- Body language cues during discussion
- Whiteboard collaboration
- Natural conversation flow
Remote sessions must deliberately recreate these dynamics through tooling and facilitation techniques.
Essential Tools for Remote Planning Poker
Dedicated Planning Poker Apps
Purpose-built tools offer the best experience:
- Free Scrum Poker: Browser-based, no signup required
- Planning Poker Online: Full-featured with Jira integration
- Pointing Poker: Simple and fast
Video Conferencing Best Practices
- Require cameras on during estimation
- Use gallery view to see all participants
- Share screens only when reviewing stories
Running Effective Sessions
Before the Meeting
- Share stories in advance: Allow 24 hours for review
- Set clear acceptance criteria: Reduce ambiguity
- Timebox stories: Complex items may need splitting
- Test technology: Ensure everyone can access tools
During the Session
- Start with calibration: Re-estimate a known story
- Read stories aloud: Don't assume everyone has read them
- Reveal simultaneously: Prevent anchoring bias
- Discuss outliers first: Highest and lowest estimates share reasoning
- Timebox discussions: 2-3 minutes per story maximum
- Re-vote when needed: After discussion, vote again
Handling Common Issues
Problem: Discussions drag on
Solution: Use a timer. If no consensus after 2 votes, use the higher estimate or split the story.
Problem: One person dominates discussion
Solution: Use round-robin speaking order. Start with the lowest estimate.
Problem: Participants aren't engaged
Solution: Call on specific people. Use reactions/emojis for quick feedback.
Estimation Scales
Fibonacci Sequence (Most Popular)
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21
- Reflects increasing uncertainty with size
- Gaps prevent false precision
- Well-understood across teams
T-Shirt Sizes
XS, S, M, L, XL
- Less numerical, more intuitive
- Good for high-level estimation
- Harder to calculate velocity
Async Planning Poker
For globally distributed teams, synchronous sessions may be impossible. Consider async approaches:
- Post stories to shared channel
- Set voting window (e.g., 24 hours)
- Participants vote independently
- Facilitator identifies outliers
- Brief sync call for discussions (30 min max)
- Final vote if needed
Common Anti-Patterns
Avoid these mistakes:
- Anchoring: Don't discuss estimates before voting
- Authority bias: Senior voices shouldn't outweigh others
- Estimate pressure: Never pressure for lower estimates
- Skipping discussion: Outliers always have valuable insights
- Over-engineering: Not every story needs 15 minutes of debate
Making It Work Long-Term
The best remote planning poker sessions share these characteristics:
- Consistency: Same time, same format, every sprint
- Preparation: Stories are ready before the meeting
- Facilitation: Someone actively manages the session
- Continuous improvement: Regular retrospectives on the process
- Right tools: Technology that doesn't get in the way
Remote planning poker can be just as effective as in-person sessions—sometimes more so. The key is intentional design and consistent execution.
Originally published at blog.freescrumpoker.com
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