Session Basics

It takes three steps to create any session. As an example, you can check out the steps to creating an Interactive session below:

What are estimation values?

In the Agile methodology, estimation values are used by teams to assess the effort required to complete specific tasks or stories. The most common approach is to utilize story points, which represent the relative complexity or effort involved. These story points are typically assigned using a Fibonacci-like number format: 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, 100. The significant leaps from one number to the next make it less likely that team members will contribute several slightly different estimates for the same task or story.

In Agile Poker for Jira, you have several options for estimation values, including:

1. Standard Fibonacci – follows the traditional Fibonacci sequence for story point estimation.

2. Modified Fibonacci – is a modified version of the Fibonacci sequence that includes higher values.

3. T-Shirt Size – uses sizes like XXS, XS, S, M, L, and XL, providing a high-level estimation scale.

4. SML – stands for Small, Medium, and Large, which allows for quick and simplified estimation based on relative effort.

5. Time Estimates – enables teams to estimate in terms of time, such as hours or days, providing a more concrete understanding of the effort required.

6. Custom – allows teams to define their own set of estimation values that align with their specific needs and preferences. When you select any option and start adding new values, you automatically create a new Custom value.

What are the session types?

Each estimation session can be created as either Public or Private.

• Public – This option provides unrestricted session access. Every Jira Software user can access a public session and update its configuration and participants list, including the roles (moderator, participant, and observer). However, Jira restrictions still apply, meaning that users without access to the specific project, board, or issue will not be able to see restricted data. Nonetheless, they can still join and modify a public estimation session in Agile Poker.

• Private – This option restricts session access. Only users who are invited to the session, including the moderator, participant, estimator, or observer, can join it. The access privileges vary based on the user's role.

Once the session is finished (estimation is completed and the "Finish session" action is executed), it is no longer possible to join the session or update its configuration.

What are the user roles?

The roles of moderator, estimator, and observer are not mutually exclusive – they are interconnected. A session has either a single moderator or everyone is a moderator, while every participant can switch between being an observer and an estimator at any moment. Both estimators and observers can be moderators. Here are some further details:

• Moderator – controls the session flow, selects the Jira issue(s) to be estimated, enables or disables voting, and finishes the session. A moderator has full session access and the ability to update session participants by adding or removing users, update session configuration, change the moderator, finish the session, or remove it entirely.

• Participants (Estimator/Observer) – Estimators and observers are a part of the estimation session but do not have control over its flow. Estimators have limited session access and can only participate in the estimation process under the control of the moderator. Meanwhile, observers observe the estimation process but can't provide estimates. The session progresses without input from observers.

⭐ Please keep in mind that you can set "Everyone" as the moderator, resulting in every session participant obtaining moderator permissions.

• Jira Administrator – have the authority to remove any active or finished session. They can’t join a private session if they are not included on the session's participants list.

Let’s build on this by exploring the key responsibilities of each user role:

* If no moderator is selected (default state), all participants have access to these actions. In a public session, the moderator's role doesn't have exclusive power to manage participants; every participant has full access to participants and moderator management settings. While in private sessions, participants are managed by moderators only. 

What is the suggested estimate?

Once all votes have been submitted, a suggested estimate is displayed. There are three options available:

1. Consensus – The suggested estimate will be based on the value that receives the highest number of votes or the most agreement among the participants.

2. Average – The suggested estimate will be the arithmetic mean of all the submitted votes. This includes fractional values.

3. Average Integer – The suggested estimate will be the rounded integer value of the arithmetic mean of the submitted votes. This means that fractional values will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

How can I access a session?

All sessions in Agile Poker for Jira Cloud are linked to project boards, allowing for multiple sessions of each type to run concurrently on the board. Clicking the See all sessions button on Agile Poker's home screen, or the See all active sessions link for a particular session type, will take you to the All sessions page.

A numeric badge highlights the number of active sessions. Here you have the option to join an existing one or create a new session. Using the filter feature, you can easily find the sessions by:

• Estimation Type (Interactive, Asynchronous, Relative, Bucket Sizing)

• Status (Active, Finished)

• Access (Public, Private); private sessions have a lock icon next to the estimation type and the session creation date.

How can I filter the issues that’ll appear in a session?

After selecting your session, settings up its configurations, and managing your participants, you need to filter and select issues. The "Select issues" step allows you to curate the precise set of issues for your estimation session:

1. Estimation Field

   • In the "Estimation Field" box, select a Jira field that will be used to store the session estimates. For Scrum boards, the default is "Story point estimate".

2. Issue Selection

   • All the issues that meet the criteria defined by the Estimation Field and Jira Query Language (JQL) filters will be shown below.

   • You can either select all issues from the backlog, or you can select specific issues by using JQL or picking them by hand.

3. Filtering Using JQL

   • Filter the issues by using JQL, which allows you to define complex queries to find specific issues based on various criteria. Fore more information on JQL, check out the Jira documentation.

   • Here are a few examples of JQL queries:

     • project = "Your Project Name" – Show issues from a specific project.

     • issuetype = Bug AND status = Open – Show open bugs.

     • sprint in openSprints() – Show issues in the currently active sprint.

4. Issue Types

   • By default, all issue types except for Epics and Subtasks are enabled for estimation.

   • If you want to estimate Epics or Subtasks, enable them by toggling the corresponding option in the "Issue Types" dropdown.

     

5. Table View

   • Customize the fields displayed in the issue table view by clicking the table icon. Here you can select the fields you want to see in the table, such as Epic, Version, Assignee, and Priority.

🖇️ Related Articles