Interactive session (DC)

Overview

The Interactive session is a powerful and essential tool that seamlessly integrates Planning Poker® game into the Jira Data Center environment.

By utilizing the Interactive session, teams can easily initiate discussions, reach a consensus, and generate accurate estimations in the context of Jira Software board. The session promotes effective communication and enables participants to share their insights in real-time, improving the accuracy and efficiency of the estimation process and leading to a more informed decision-making process.

Mechanics of the Interactive session

Within the Interactive session, there are three different roles available:

1. Moderator – has the ability to configure settings and manage the session. A session has either a single moderator or everyone is a moderator. Only the moderator can select the issue that will be estimated.

2. Participants – can participate in estimation sessions, cast their votes, and contribute to the decision-making process. Participants can have moderator privileges that enable full session control.

3. Observers – have read-only access and can view the estimation sessions and results without actively participating. Every participant can switch between being an observer and an estimator at any moment.

Here's a brief step-by-step overview of how the Interactive session unfolds:

1. After configuring session settings, the moderator starts the session.

2. Participants join the session either as estimators or observers.

3. The session displays a backlog view with issues to be estimated.

4. Participants estimate the issue selected by the moderator by providing their individual estimates.

5. After everyone’s votes are revealed by the moderator, the session enters the discussion phase.

6. The participants discuss their estimates and reach a consensus. Participants can update their personal estimates if needed.

7. The moderator approves the final estimation for the selected issue.

8. The process repeats for each issue in the backlog.

9. Once all the issues are estimated, the moderator finishes the session for all participants.

How to create an Interactive session

Step 1: Open the Create Session screen

1. On the Jira Software backlog view, open the Agile Poker dropdown and click + New session.

   Open

   

   Alternatively, select Agile Poker in the board navigation menu on the left and click + Create session.

   Open

   

2. In the Create new session popup, select Interactive session and click Next.

Step 2: Create Interactive Session

3. Name your session (up to 100 characters) or go with a pre-set one.

4. Optionally save the current configuration as your personal default, which means it will be used when creating new sessions for the current board. The following fields will be remembered: session type, estimation field, participants, observers, estimation values, suggested estimate, and timers.

5. Pick the people that estimate with you.

6. Select the observers that are exempt from providing estimates. This may include rookies, individuals external to the team, Scrum masters, or project managers who won’t do estimations. Observers' avatars are marked with an eye icon. A moderator might be either Estimator or Observer. 

7. Select one of the commonly used sets of deck types/estimation values, or create a custom set your team prefers. These values will be available to the participants.

8. You can select Advanced settings on the toggle switch located at the top right-hand corner and have more options, such as moderator, visibility, suggested estimate, allow custom values, and timer values. 

9. Choose a Moderator to give them exclusive control over the estimation session. Otherwise, everyone can control the session. Additionally, in private mode, the moderator is the only user who can change session settings (i.e. add/remove participants, change session mode, and change the moderator). In the public mode, everyone with access to the Jira Software board is allowed to change session settings.

10. Select the session visibility type (Public/Private). Public sessions are visible to all Jira users with access to the Jira Software board. Everybody can join the session and estimate issues at any time. 
Private sessions are visible only to the users added as "participants" in the session configuration.

11. Select what suggested estimate you will see once all votes are done. Define what suggestions you would like to see after the personal estimation phase is finished. 


    1. Consensus: the value is suggested only if all the estimators selected the same value. 


    2. Median and Average: the value is calculated using median or average formulas. 

12. Decide whether you want to allow custom values. If you enable it, participants will be able to input estimation values other than the configured ones.

13. Configure the timer values in seconds and launch a timer to limit discussion or voting time, which can help your team stay on track and save time.

14. Check the box to get the estimation session to automatically end after the last online participant selects their estimation.

After clicking Create, the session will be created and activated. Your new session will be added to the list of available sessions on the All sessions dashboard view. You can go to that dashboard by clicking on Agile Poker in the board navigation menu on the left.

During the session, the admin can access these session settings by using several entry points:

• Use the Configure option by clicking on the ... (ellipsis) button on the All sessions dashboard: 

• Inside the session, click the Configure option below ACTIVE SESSION on the Agile Poker dropdown menu:

How to join the Interactive session

The best place to start working with an Interactive session is the Agile Poker dropdown on the Jira Software backlog view. To join the session, open the dropdown and click on your session name. Once you connect to the session, the backlog view changes slightly – you will see an Agile Poker estimation panel.

• Team members can join an active session from the Agile Poker session selection page or the All Sessions page.

• Alternatively, the moderator can share the session link with the team by copying it from the address bar or from the participants' management menu (click Participants from the top right to open it).

Estimation Process

The estimation process within an Interactive session follows a structured workflow. Here's what happens step by step:

1. Entering the Session

In the Participants panel, you can see your team members participating in the estimation. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Moderator: Identified by a crown icon on their avatar.

• Inactive Participants: Avatars are greyed out.

• Observers: Indicated by an eye icon next to their avatars. To become an observer, click the eye icon next to Participants. To join the estimation, click the card icon.

2. Starting the Estimation

Once the session is active, the moderator selects the issue to be estimated. To select an issue for estimation, simply click the estimate badge once or double-click the issue row. Agile Poker automatically follows the selected issue by opening it for all participants. This functionality is called "auto-follow mode".

Estimation panel

At this stage, the estimation panel should look like this:

The panel has two different states:

• Estimation view is shown when people are estimating the currently selected issue,

• Results view is shown when estimation is over and the results are revealed.

On the estimation view, you will find the following elements:

• Summary of the issue you are estimating (every session participant sees the same issue here),

• Participants section with avatars that provides information about participant type (Estimator or Observer) and whether estimators have already set their estimates,

• Icon to switch between Dropdown/Cards estimation layout.

• Toggle to switch between Estimator/Observer,

• Your estimation dropdown or cards layout that allows you, as a participant, to estimate,

• Timer controls (10s, 60s) that facilitate timeboxing of the estimation session,

• Button Show estimates instantly revealing estimates provided by the users.

The results view contains the following elements:

• Summary of the issue being estimated,

• Avatars of session participants sorted by a given estimate value,

• Toggle to switch between Estimator/Observer,

• Consensus estimate/median/average of given estimates,

• Final estimate input field allowing a moderator to save the final estimate for the discussed issue,

• Timer controls (10s, 60s),

• Restart button allowing to estimate again (current estimation results for the selected issue will be deleted).

Active issue

The estimation badge of the active issue is always dark blue. There is also the Agile Poker logo on its left side which changes its color based on the auto-follow status. The logo is also dark blue when the auto-follow is enabled for the current user.

However, the user may decide to view another issue during the estimation session. In this situation, the auto-follow will get disabled.

The blue badge still indicates the selected issue (as well as the Agile Poker panel at the top), but the Agile Poker logo is grayed out, indicating that the auto-follow is disabled. To re-enable it, simply select the issue with the logo. From now on your browser will automatically load issues selected for estimation.

3. Using the Backlog & Issue Details

Here is the preview of the backlog filtered and selected by the moderator.

• Backlog Overview

  • Provides details of the selected issue.

• Backlog Management (Moderator): The moderator can manage the visibility of several extra fields in the backlog view, like epics, versions, assignee, and priority. They can also edit the sprint or complete the sprint by clicking the three-dot icon.

• Quick Issue Details:

  • Appears on the right-hand side when clicking on an issue and displays a set of standard issue fields.

  • To view full issue details or edit any issue field, click Edit button from the issue details for the selected issue. All of the standard Jira issue options are available here without the need to open the issue in a separate tab:

4. Voting & Submitting Estimates

Participants submit their estimation values for the selected issue. To submit, participants use the Your estimation section, which displays estimation values set for this session.

• View Options:

  • Participants can easily switch between dropdown and card view by clicking on the view button next to it.

  • If you don’t need the estimation panel, you can collapse it into a single line. This allows you to see more issues in the backlog. To collapse the estimation panel, click on the "down arrow" icon.

  • Once you open the Your estimate dropdown, you will see three reference issues. These issues are set by the session moderator and are visible to everyone in the estimation session. Below them, you will find recently completed issues with the estimation equal to the currently hovered value. This is the Triangulation panel.

  • The Triangulation panel displays resolved issues with the same estimation value, allowing you to make better estimates by comparing. Issues for triangulation are selected from the same project, with priority given to recently closed issues of the same type or with the same components. You can hide the triangulation panel by clicking on the << icon on the right side of the panel. Your preference will be remembered across all Agile Poker sessions.

Personal estimates can be submitted by Estimators only. Observers see the following message instead of Your estimate: You're currently an observer, click here to join estimation. 

The discussion phase starts after all estimates have been provided or after the moderator clicks the Show estimates button. Selected values are then shown next to the team members' avatars.

5. Discussion Phase

The team can see all the estimation values from the Participants section. Participants engage in discussions, sharing their insights and perspectives on the estimates.

6. Updating Personal Estimates

Participants have the opportunity to revise their estimates based on the discussion and new insights. Personal estimates can be updated by clicking on the pencil icon next to the individual estimate:

7. Final Estimation Selection

Once the discussion is done, the final estimation is selected and approved by clicking on Save or Save & next on the moderator’s side. The reset option restarts the voting process for the issue being estimated.

And with that, the estimation process for this particular issue is over!

8. Leaving/Finishing the Session

You can choose to disconnect from the session (to hide the estimation panel). To do that, click the X button at the top-right corner of the panel to close it or select Hide estimation panel from the Agile Poker dropdown menu. Disconnecting from the session marks you as an inactive user but doesn't remove you completely from it. The admin can edit the session configuration to remove people from it.

• If the session is public, the participant can rejoin at a later time. However, for private sessions, they will need to be reinvited in order to join again.

• If a user simply closes the tab without using the Leave session option, they will remain in the participant list, and this can impact the estimation process. The final estimation process will not be automatically triggered when each estimator submits their estimate.

• If a person leaves the session, they can be removed from the Participants menu.

In the event that all issues have been estimated, a moderator can conclude the session for all participants by selecting the Finish session option.