Asynchronous Session
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Overview
Based on Wideband Delphi, the Asynchronous session is a specially designed tool for teams that either cannot or prefer not to estimate simultaneously.
By utilizing the Asynchronous session, teams can overcome the challenges of real-time coordination and enable team members to contribute their estimations and insights asynchronously. This approach fosters a more inclusive and flexible estimation process by accommodating diverse schedules and results in consultation-based estimations.
Who should use Asynchronous session?
It is indispensable for teams working across different geographical locations and time zones with varying schedules or limited availability. It allows team members to contribute their estimations at their own convenience, eliminating the need for real-time coordination.
Mechanics of the Asynchronous Session
Within the Asynchronous session, there are two different roles available:
Moderator: The moderators have the ability to configure settings and manage the session. A session has either a single moderator or everyone is a moderator.
Estimator: Estimators can participate in estimation sessions, cast their votes, and contribute to the decision-making process.
Here's a brief step-by-step overview of how the Asynchronous session unfolds:
The moderator selects the issues to estimate and the people that will participate in the session.
The session link is shared with all the participants via Slack or email.
Participants estimate issues in the scope of the estimation session whenever they find it convenient, optionally putting down their comments, questions, and concerns to support the chosen estimation.
The moderator closes the personal estimation phase and proceeds to the final estimation phase.
The moderator saves the estimates for issues in scope based on the estimation result or proceeds with further discussion interactively.
To gain a better understanding of Asynchronous session, you can watch the video below:
How to Create an Asynchronous Session
Step 1: Open the “Create Session” Screen
For service/software projects, navigate to the project’s left-side menu, and click Agile Poker.
On the Estimations screen, hover over Asynchronous, and click Create Session.
Step 2: Create Asynchronous Session
Name your session (up to 100 characters) or go with a pre-set one.
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, estimation values, suggested estimate, and timers.
Default configurations are saved per user per board, meaning separate default settings for sessions on other boards. Moreover, this feature is shared across all session types. For example, participants list saved during an Asynchronous session creation will be pre-populated when creating sessions of any other type.
Select the session type (Public/Private).
Turn on this toggle if you want players to be able to update their personal estimates after revealing them.
Activate the Multi-field estimation toggle to estimate several fields at once. Refer to this document to learn how this works.
Select one of the commonly used sets of estimation values, or create a custom set your team prefers. These values will be available to the participants.
Select what suggested estimate you will see once all votes are done.
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.
Click Next and you’ll be directed to the Manage participants page.
Step 3: Manage Participants
Choose a Moderator to give them exclusive control over the estimation session. Otherwise, everyone can control the session.
Pick the people that estimate with you.
Set a due date for participants to submit their personal estimates using the provided calendar. The due date is displayed in the session during the personal estimation process, as well as in invitation and reminder notes.
When enabled, schedule options relative to the due date are available for scheduling notifications. For example, you can select to send a reminder one day before the due date.
Optionally, click the Add to calendar dropbox to add the session to your preferred calendar application such as Google, Outlook, Yahoo, or iCalendar.
Select email or/and Slack as the preferred communication channel(s) for sending session invitations.
You can send invitations instantly or schedule them for a specific date and time, or relative to the due date.
You can specify a personalized message for the invitation.
Additionally, you can send email and/or Slack reminders to session participants who have not yet submitted all their personal estimates.
Please note the following:
Due date and Invitation channels options appear only if there is at least 1 participant aside from the creator.
Starting from Agile Poker for Jira Cloud version 100.4.0-AC, emails are sent automatically without requiring any specific configurations. We strongly recommend upgrading to the latest version for optimal functionality. If you are using an older version, both the sender and receivers must have their emails publicly available in their personal settings.
Click Next and you’ll be directed to the Select issues page.
Step 4: Select Issues
Select a Jira field that would be the destination for session estimates.
Select the issues that will be estimated during the session. For more details on filtering issues, refer to this documentation.
From the Issue Types dropdown, define if you'd like to estimate Epics or Sub-tasks as well.
Click Start session and the estimation will start. Keep in mind that you can create and run multiple Asynchronous sessions in parallel.
How to Join the Asynchronous Session
The participants can provide their estimations by clicking on the Join Session button in the invitation email and/or Slack message. They can also 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, the breadcrumbs section, or from the participants' management menu (click Participants from the top right to open it).
Estimation Process
In the Asynchronous session, each participant is required to individually estimate all the provided issues and may choose to include comments supporting their estimates.
While the estimation process in the Asynchronous session shares similarities with the Interactive session, there are a few key differences. Once you are familiar with the Interactive session, review the following distinctions:
Participants Section: The Participants section displays an
ASYNCHRONOUS MODEindicator. The progress of participants is shown next to their avatars, indicating the completion status of their estimations. The progress icon changes to a checkmark once a team member finishes their estimations.Estimation Options:
Skip – Allows you to jump to the next un-estimated issue from the issue list without submitting an estimate for the current issue.
Next – Enables you to jump to the next un-estimated issue from the issue list while saving the selected estimation option for the current issue.
Finish & Review (Moderators Only) – Allows moderators to proceed to the Final estimation stage, even if some participants have not submitted their estimations. It is highlighted if all participants have finished their estimations.
Comment Area: A new area is provided for participants to add comments specific to a particular issue. This allows participants to provide additional context or reasoning to support their estimates.
Estimated Values: The estimated value you select for an issue will appear in the issue list, providing a clear reference for the estimation progress.
1. Entering the Estimates
After the session has started, the participants provide their estimations at their own convenience. After all the participants submit their estimates or when the due date is reached (even if some participants' estimates are missing), a moderator selects the Review personal estimates option from the voting section or session menu to switch to the Interactive session.
2. Switching to Interactive Session
In the Interactive mode, all the issues are set to Reviewing status and ready for the final estimation. The moderator can remove the saved individual estimates by using the Reset button on the right. Agile Poker will suggest a final estimation value if:
The Consensus option was selected in the settings and all the estimates are similar;
The Average option was selected in the settings.
All the comments are also shown here.
The moderator can use Save or Save & next options to save the final estimate and proceed further. Once all the issues are estimated, you’re done!
3. Leaving/Finishing the Session
When a team member needs to leave the estimation process, they should use the Leave session option found in the session menu. This will remove the member from the Participants list, and their avatar will no longer be visible in the Participants panel.
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.