Start a session

Open Apps › Estimation Sessions › New session, or start from where the work items are:

  • backlog: ••• › Estimate the backlog,
  • a sprint: its ••• › Estimate this sprint,
  • work item search: Apps › Estimate these work items.

Then choose:

  1. Type – Sizing board (everyone moves the cards on one shared board) or Planning poker (private votes, then a reveal).
  2. Options of the sizing board: Take turns (one card per person, then the next person) and Relative sizing (lanes A, B, C… from small to large; the values are set at the end).
  3. Field – where the estimate is saved: story points, another number field, the original time estimate, a single-line text field, or the priority.
  4. Scale – Fibonacci, modified Fibonacci, powers of two, linear, T-shirt sizes saved as points, time scales, or Custom (for example 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 or S=2, M=5, L=8). Jira administrators can save a custom scale for everyone.
  5. Work items – pick the space and “backlog”, “open sprints”, “future sprints” or “all unfinished”, optionally only work items without an estimate. The choices write the JQL, which you can edit. Find work items, untick what you want to leave out (up to 300), and Create session.

Send the address of the session to your team – opening it joins the session.

Sizing board

Drag a card to the lane with its size (or use the menu on the card). Everyone sees every move at once. Useful extras:

  • ★ pins a card as a reference for its lane.
  • Examples on a lane shows finished work items with that estimate.
  • Not sure is a lane for cards that need a talk; they are not saved.
  • With Take turns, the banner shows whose turn it is. Move one card or Pass; a moderator can skip someone.
  • With Relative sizing, add lanes with + Lane and finish with Set lane values.

Planning poker (live or async)

  1. Everyone drags the cards to the size they think is right. The votes are private: others only see that you voted.
  2. A moderator clicks Reveal votes (or Reveal on one card). Cards with full agreement move to their lane. The others stay in “To discuss” and show everyone’s vote.
  3. Discuss and drag the card to the agreed size – or let Use the majority decide the rest (a tie goes to the larger estimate). Vote again hides a card and clears its votes for another round. Votes can still be changed after the reveal.

For async estimation simply leave the session open: people vote when they have time, and you reveal when enough votes are in.

Save to Jira

A moderator clicks Save to Jira. The app compares with Jira first:

  • estimates that are already the same are not written,
  • estimates changed in Jira during the session are listed – tick the ones the session should overwrite,
  • everything else is written to the estimate field, with your permissions.

If Jira refuses a work item, the reason is shown (most often the field is missing on the edit screen of that work type).

Moderators

The creator of a session is its moderator. Click a participant to make them a co-moderator. Jira administrators can moderate every session. Moderators reveal, add or remove work items, close, reopen, delete and save.

Results shows the estimates and votes as a table to copy into a spreadsheet.