Game flow (DC)
This page is about Planning Poker for Jira Data Center. Using Cloud? Click here.
On this page: |
---|
How to join the game
Users can easily join a game once it’s been created. Here’s how:
Using the Planning Poker Dashboard
The primary method is through the Planning Poker dashboard. To access it, click the app logo either in the Jira Apps menu or the project sidebar. On the dashboard, you'll find a list of recent games created within your Jira. From there, you can:
Join a game as a player by clicking Join.
Share or join the game by using the copy link option.
Via Invitation Email
Another way to join a game is by following a game link from an invitation email sent by the administrator. When you join a game through an invitation link, you'll always start as a participant (not a spectator).
Before starting the game, it’s crucial that you establish your team’s communication method. While Planning Poker is an effective tool for team estimation, it doesn't include built-in communication features, as different teams prefer different methods.
To ensure effective communication, the person responsible for estimation to gather all players in a meeting room, Slack channel, Zoom conference, or another suitable tool. Strong communication will lead to successful estimations!
Estimation process
The main purpose of a Planning Poker game is to estimate the issues you've added to it. This estimation process is broken down into organized rounds. Each round focuses on one issue and aims to decide its fate – whether it gets postponed, removed, or assigned a final estimation value. Typically, the number of rounds matches the number of issues for estimation.
Each round consists of three phases:
Backlog Phase
Voting Phase
Discussion Phase
Let's delve into each phase for a deeper understanding.
Backlog phase
Purpose
The Backlog Phase serves as the initial step of each round, where participants await instructions from the game admin.
Progression
Game Admin |
---|
The admin's main task in this phase is selecting an issue for estimation, but can perform many other specific actions:
The backlog list is accessible to the game admin throughout all phases. In addition to providing a quick overview of issue details, the backlog enables the admin to swiftly estimate an issue by clicking on it and selecting Estimate now. Clicking this button concludes the current round and initiates the voting phase for the new round to estimate the selected issue. The current issue is then moved to the top of the game's backlog list. Additionally, the estimated items archive allows game admins to review estimation history and make changes to the game's backlog. When you click on an issue in the archive, a window appears showing its estimation history and two buttons:
|
Estimators/Spectators |
---|
They can observe the list of issues to estimate, participants' information, and previous estimations. The main task is to wait for a game admin to choose an issue to estimate. |
When the game admin chooses an issue to estimate, the Backlog Phase ends, and the round proceeds to the Voting Phase.
The Backlog Phase can be performed automatically in the background without the game admin's interference. If you prefer this, enable Round Autostart in the game configuration. In this case, the issue to be estimated in the next voting phase is picked from the top of the backlog list. If you're expecting to select the next issue to estimate manually and have missed your backlog phase, check your game configuration.
Voting phase
Purpose
The Voting Phase is the core of the estimation round. Its process varies based on roles, but the goal remains simple: participants and the admin provide their estimates for the current issue.
Progression
Each player (except spectators) receives a number of cards, depending on the card deck type selected during the game configuration. Typically, the cards in your hand will look like this:
Game Admin |
---|
Admins estimate the issue just like estimators but have additional responsibilities. They are provided with a group of additional controls, available to them during the voting phase. These controls allow the game admin to commit the following actions:
|
Estimators/Spectators |
---|
|
The Voting Phase concludes when all game participants have played their cards or in the following circumstances:
The admin uses their Reveal cards privilege.
The round timer's countdown reaches its end, whether initiated by the game admin's Start countdown privilege or the Timer auto-start game configuration option.
The participants haven't played their cards and have gone spectators.
In any of these scenarios, once the Voting Phase ends, all played cards are revealed to all game participants and spectators. Additionally, certain phase statistics are presented, and the round transitions to the Discussion Phase.
Discussion phase
Purpose
The Discussion Phase is the final stage of the round, focusing on reaching a consensus regarding the estimation for the current issue through team collaboration.
Progression
In this phase, all played cards are unveiled to every participant. Estimations are visually represented in cards, facilitating easy sharing and discussion.
Game Admin |
---|
In this phase, estimations by participants are organized based on the game's deck type and serve as active controls for the game admin. Hovering over an estimation button triggers the estimation context section. They are provided with a group of additional controls, available to them during the voting phase. These controls allow the game admin to commit the following actions:
|
Estimators/Spectators |
---|
|
Once a consensus is reached, the game administrator submits the estimation value, and the game advances to the next round or concludes.
End of the game
A Planning Poker game ends when:
No rounds remain, and all issues are estimated.
The game admin uses the Finish Game privilege.
Upon the game's conclusion, a cheerful notification informs players. Finished games can be reopened if needed by clicking Re-open game from the top app menu. Estimated issues are also accessible in the “Advanced Issue Search” for further editing or bulk editing.
When the game is finished, you can export it to CSV format with summarised estimation data through the dashboard.