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This part of the documentation relates to Agile Poker Enterprise for Jira Server. If you use Jira Cloud go to the Agile Poker Enterprise for Jira Cloud documentation. |
Table of contents:
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Introduction
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This page is about Agile Poker for Jira Data Center. Using Cloud? Click here. |
Overview
The Relative session is fast, simple, and intuitive. Instead of assigning specific estimation values, teams only need to compare issues to one another.
Compared to standard Planning Poker, the Relative session focuses on quick estimations with less issue discussion. However, the session can be easily customized by the team and moderator to fit their specific needs.
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Who should use Relative session? Relative session is ideal for making quick and rough estimations of a large batch of issues (50+). |
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Still, it’s highly adopted by teams with a small number of issues per estimation session (<20). It’s also recommended for:
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Mechanics of the Relative session
The Relative session is based on the Magic Estimation Game method, employing a Trello-like interface for a smooth issue drag-and-drop user experience. It’s also heavily inspired by techniques known as Magic Estimation or Silent Grouping. Here is general gist of the session:
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as Silent Grouping, Affinity Estimation, or Swimlanes Sizing, so knowing one of them should make you comfortable with the flow of the Relative session.
Here's a brief step-by-step overview of how the Relative session unfolds:
The session moderator shares their screen with the participants and interacts on behalf of them.
Status colour Yellow title Beta The moderator puts the issues to be estimated in a pile.
The first participant places the top issue on the virtual wall.
The next participant places the top issue on the virtual wall relative to the first issue:
If it’s smaller, it gets placed on the left.
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If it’s bigger, it gets placed on the right.
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If it’s around the same, then it should be placed below
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(forming a column
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).
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The next participant may:
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Either place the issue from the
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pile on the virtual wall
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using the same rules as above
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.
Move an issue already placed on the wall/table together with a comment explaining this move.
The team continues to take turns placing issues until the
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pile is finally depleted
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and all issues are on the virtual wall.
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It is the time to fine-tune the order by moving issues one at a time with a few words of explanation.
When everybody is OK with the outcome, the issues are ordered left to right, smallest to largest.
The last step is to assign an estimation value corresponding
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to each column
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(usually
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with the Fibonacci sequence
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).
Creating relative estimation session
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Estimating issues <todo!>
- On the sessions dashboard screen, click the "Estimate" button to go to the session.
- Select the first issue from the list on the left, choose estimate and type comment. Then click the "Save & next" button and repeat this for the next issues.
- Once you estimate all the issues, simply leave the session page.
Previewing estimation results
Every session participant can see the overview of how many issues others have estimated in the top-right corner of the session screen. Hovering over the user shows the number of issues estimated by her or him. The green tick will show up next to the users who estimated all the issues.
Session moderator can preview partial estimates even if the session is open. To do this go to the sessions dashboard, open the "more" dropdown for the estimation session you are interested in and click "Review partial results".
On the screen, pick an issue to see partial results in the "Estimation results" section.
Closing session
Once everybody choses their estimates, the moderator can close the session. Participants can no longer estimate issues in closed sessions but they can review the results instead. Session moderator can close the session in two ways:
- From the sessions dashboard view using the "Close" button:
- From the estimation view using the "Close session" button in the top-right corner of the screen:
Reviewing estimation results
When the session has been closed all participants can review the results. Moreover session moderator can save final issue estimate directly from the results screen. To see estimation results:
- On the sessions dashboard, click the "Review results" button.
- Pick an issue from the list on the left. You will see the "Final estimation for..." panel. Based on the user estimates and comments, enter the final issue estimate and click button "Save & next". Final estimate value will be saved to the issue field selected on the create session screen (in this example "Story point").
- Once you save the final estimate for all issues, simply leave the session results page.
Restarting session
While reviewing the results, session moderator may decide that for some issues another estimation round is needed. If this is the case, click the "Restart session" link on the results screen. The "Restart session" dialog is very similar to the "Create session" dialog. Choose issues to be reestimated and update list of session participants if needed. Once you restart the session Jira can send e-mail invitations to all participants and estimation will proceed as usual.
Customizing estimate values
You can configure estimate values available for the session participants. Read the Board settings documentation page for details.
Reviewing the estimation results later
After the session has been closed, you can view proposed estimates and estimate comments at any time by going back to the session screen or simply from the agile board and view issue page.
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Save the assigned values to the issues.
See the video below to see how the session works in action:
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Before you begin
The current implementation stores the session state in the browser's local storage. This has the following implications:
Your browser must support local storage and have it enabled.
You can't involve multiple people in the session simultaneously, the only way is to share a screen with them.
You can't create multiple sessions simultaneously on the same browser/profile. First, you need to finish or discard the previous one.
The relative sessions are not shown either on the All Sessions dashboard or in the Agile Poker menu.
How to create a Relative session
Step 1: Open the Create session screen
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Step 2: Create Relative Session
Choose the issues you want to estimate (session scope) and click Create to create your new relative estimation session.
Estimation process
The estimation process within a Relative session follows a structured workflow. During the estimation, the team members will size user stories based on their relative “weight” by moving the cards around the collaborative board. The position of every user story can be voted on by the team if consensus is required. Here's what happens step by step:
Issue placement phase
While on the the session page, drag the issues from the deck (left screen side) to the virtual wall (right screen side).
Continue dragging issues from the deck. You can drop the issue in the following places:
under the existing column (if the item is comparable in size)
to the left (or right), if the item is considerably smaller (greater) than existing issues on the wall
put the issue between two existing columns to create a new one
Placing estimates
At any moment, which usually happens after your Issues to be estimated deck is empty, you can start filling in the estimate values for the column items.
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Saving estimates
When happy with what you see, you can click Save estimates button (bottom right) to conclude the session and update the issues' respective estimation field.
You will be prompted with a dialog asking you where to store the results:
Choose the desired field to update and click the Save button.
Further reading
Keep in mind the following resources are not created nor maintained by Appfire, but you still might benefit from them:
Detailed explanation of the Team Estimation Game method. Good for introductory reading.
One-paged "cheat sheet" for the Team Estimation Game.
Another explanation of Team Estimation Game. Less pictures, but with more verbose examples.
Kindle pocket guide on Team Estimation, authored by the technique author.
Introductory explanation to the Magic Estimation method, with a bit of hints.