In this fourteen-minute InfoQ interview, Nils Haugen described the "Planning Poker" technique his teams have been experimenting with. It is a simple mechanism for arriving at estimates collaboratively, with additional team building benefits. It is also likely to improve team estimates over time. Nils Haugen is an agile developer and coach with Objectnet in Norway and has also worked with XP/Agile teams at ThoughtWorks. Online poker.

The term "Planning Poker" was coined by James Grenning in a white paper in 2002, but the technique has also been used other places, and is described in Mike Cohn’s books on User Stories and Agile Estimating and Planning.It doesn't use regular playing cards, but rather each developer has an identical deck of half a dozen index cards numbered with increasing numbers of story points - this could be a simple sequence (1,2,3,4,5,6) or a Fibonnaci sequence (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8). What's most important is not the cards themselves but way the team uses them. Women poker players.

One notable benefit of using this technique is that it levels the playing field for both dominant and shy members, experts and novices. With this technique, each one must be prepared to share the thinking behind each estimate - potentially injecting new ideas or identifying risks that might have been missed. Download poker wallpapers.

Despite our best efforts, it's not always possible for everyone to be in the room. A group of Agile trainers have provided a free, browser-based tool to help travelling team members or even distributed teams use Planning Poker, at www.planningpoker.com. stay tuned to our poker blog for more updates.

Poker News Source: Info Q