--- url: /guides/estimate-with-scrum-poker.md description: >- Estimate tasks with your team in a Scrum Poker (planning poker) session — hidden votes, a reveal, and story points written back to each task. --- # Estimate with Scrum Poker Run a Scrum Poker ([planning poker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker)) session when your team estimates a batch of tasks together, for example before a [sprint](/recipes/iterative-sprints). Everyone votes with a card face down, the cards turn over at once, and the accepted estimate is saved to the task's **Story points** field (see [Task fields](/reference/task-fields)). ## Before you start You need a list with the **Story Points** feature; each section below names the access and the permissions of your [permission set](/reference/permissions-and-access) it needs. ::: warning Turn on Story Points in the list The [**Scrum** preset](/reference/task-fields#feature-presets) turns it on; otherwise switch it on in the list's **Configure** → **Features** (see [Set up a list](/guides/set-up-a-list#turn-features-on-or-off)). A task in a list without story points is skipped in the session. ::: ## Add a Scrum Poker view ::: warning Share the view with the voters The people who vote are the members the [view](/concepts/views) is shared with. [Share the list or its folder](/guides/share-a-folder-or-list) with them first. Adding the view needs [**Edit** access](/concepts/sharing) to the list or folder and **Create** in the **Views** block; the **List/Folder manager**, **Admin** and **Super Admin** sets have it. ::: ::: warning Not in a personal view A [personal view](/concepts/personal-and-work) has no participants, so a session can't start there. Add the view to a list or folder in a workspace. ::: 1. Open the list (or folder) that holds the tasks to estimate. Its view tabs show above the tasks. 2. In the row of view tabs, click **+** (**Add view**) and choose **Scrum Poker**. A [view](/concepts/views) named "Scrum Poker" opens. Until a session starts, whoever can start one sees the list's tasks as a List, without the row for adding a task; everyone else sees **No estimation session yet**. The view's [filter](/guides/filter-sort-and-group-a-view) decides which tasks the session offers. ## Start a session ::: warning Permission to start a session Starting a session needs **Create** in the **Scrum poker** block. The **Admin** and **Super Admin** sets and the owner have it, and [a custom set](/guides/invite-members-and-grant-permissions) can grant it. ::: 1. In the Scrum Poker view, click **Start session** at the right of the view's header. The **Task Queue** opens, with every task that matches the view ticked, in the view's order. 2. Untick the tasks to leave out. The counter next to **Task Queue** shows how many go in. **Clear all** unticks the rows you see; once a task is unticked, the same button reads **Select all**. Type in **Search the queue** first to act only on the matching rows. 3. In the panel on the right, under **Round settings** and **People**, set what you need: | Setting | What it does | Default | |---|---|---| | **Round timer** | Limits each round to 15, 30, 60 or 90 seconds. | off | | **Auto-reveal** | Turns the cards over 3 seconds after everyone has voted. | off | | **Facilitator** | The member who opens rounds, reveals the cards and accepts estimates. Only the facilitator can do these. | you | ![Scrum Poker setup for the list Sprint 24: five of six tasks ticked in the Task Queue, Select all, Round settings on the right, and Start session at the top and bottom of the panel](/shots/guides/estimate-with-scrum-poker-1.light.webp){.light-only} ![Scrum Poker setup for the list Sprint 24: five of six tasks ticked in the Task Queue, Select all, Round settings on the right, and Start session at the top and bottom of the panel](/shots/guides/estimate-with-scrum-poker-1.dark.webp){.dark-only} ::: warning "Only you have access to this view"? **People** shows this when nobody else can vote yet. Click **Share this view**, or share the list or folder it sits in. ::: 4. Click **Start session** at the top of the panel, or the same button at its bottom. The session opens on the first task at the **Discussion** step: four groups of questions to walk before anyone votes, with **Start round** in the panel. 5. Ask the voters to open the view. They join as it opens; there is no invitation step. The session keeps the tasks you ticked, in the order you saw, even if they later stop matching the view's filter. Because the tasks are fixed, the view's header hides these controls while the session and its summary are on screen, and the filter strip below it: * [**Sources**](/concepts/views#sources-where-a-view-looks); * **Slice**; * **Filter**; * **View settings** (**…**). ## Run a round ::: warning Who can vote Voting needs **Vote** in the **Scrum poker** block (the **Worker** set has it) and a view shared with you. ::: 1. Click **Start round**. Voting opens, and each participant sees their cards: by default **1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13**. 2. Each participant picks a card. Others see *who* has voted ("3 of 5"), never *what*. A participant can change their card until the reveal. 3. Click **Reveal**. With **Auto-reveal** on, the cards turn over by themselves 3 seconds after the last vote; **Cancel** stops the countdown. The results show: * the **Average**; * the **Most common** value; * the **Agreement**: the share of votes for the suggested card (the deck card nearest the average); a dash below three votes; * who played what. 4. If the votes are far apart, click **Re-vote** after the discussion. A new round opens for the same task. 5. To save another number than the suggested one, type it into **Story points** in the panel's **Estimate** block. The accept button takes the new number. 6. Click **Accept … and continue**. The message "Estimate … saved to the task" appears, and the next task opens. ![A revealed round: votes 3, 5, 5, 5 and 8 from five people, Average 5.2, Most common 5, Agreement 60%, with Re-vote and Accept 5 and continue](/shots/guides/estimate-with-scrum-poker-2.light.webp){.light-only} ![A revealed round: votes 3, 5, 5, 5 and 8 from five people, Average 5.2, Most common 5, Agreement 60%, with Re-vote and Accept 5 and continue](/shots/guides/estimate-with-scrum-poker-2.dark.webp){.dark-only} ::: warning "No rights on that task's list"? Saving an estimate needs the facilitator to have [**Edit** access](/concepts/sharing) to the task's list; without it the result is kept in the session. Someone with **Edit** access can type the estimate into the task's **Story points**. ::: Before the reveal, **Skip task** leaves a task unestimated and moves on; after the reveal the same button reads **Next task**. While a task is on screen, the buttons at the right of the view's header swap what the left side shows: | Button | What it shows | |---|---| | **See comments** | The task's comments, in place of the task | | **See activities** | The task's history, in place of the task. Missing when **Activity** is [turned off in the task's list](/guides/set-up-a-list#turn-features-on-or-off) | | **Back to task** | The task again | ## Edit the queue during a session ::: warning Only the facilitator edits the queue Everyone can open the queue to look. Adding, reordering and removing tasks is the facilitator's job. ::: 1. Click the progress row (**Task 1 of 5**) at the bottom of the panel. The **Task Queue** opens in place of the task; the tasks already estimated are struck through. 2. Change the queue: * to add a task, type its title or ID into **Search tasks to add to session** next to **Task Queue** and pick it; * to reorder, drag a task by its handle; * to take a task out, click **Remove from queue** on its row; it goes at once. ## Finish the session A session finishes by itself: * when you accept the last task ("… that was the last task, the session is now finished"); * after 30 minutes with no activity. ::: warning Who can finish The facilitator, or a member whose set has [**Facilitate** in **Scrum poker**](/reference/permissions-and-access) (**Admin**, **Super Admin**, the owner). ::: To end it earlier, or to leave the last task unestimated: 1. In the panel's header, click **Finish session**. A dialog asks "Finish the session?". 2. Click **Finish session** in the dialog. The session closes for everyone and stays as a read-only summary: how many tasks were estimated, the story points and who took part. The estimated tasks are struck through. ::: danger Finishing closes the session for everyone It can't be reopened. Estimates already accepted are kept; tasks still without one stay unestimated. To estimate them, start a new session. ::: To leave the summary, click **Close finish screen**, at the top or the bottom of the panel. The view shows its tasks again, ready for the next session. ## Example: estimating a sprint Alex, the team lead with the **Admin** set, shares the list **Sprint 24** (preset **Scrum**) with Kate, Boris and two developers, adds a Scrum Poker view and ticks five tasks. In the first round the cards read 3, 5, 5, 5, 8; after a minute of discussion Alex accepts 5. Twenty minutes later all five tasks have story points, and the sprint total is on the summary. ## Change the card values Each task's cards come from the story-point scale of the list it sits in. A list that never set one deals **1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13**. 1. Open the list's **Configure** → **Story points**. The **Story points scale** shows the current values. ::: warning Edit access to the list Changing the scale needs **Edit** access to the list and **Update** in the **Lists** block (such as **List/Folder manager** or **Admin**). See [Set up a list](/guides/set-up-a-list#before-you-start). ::: 2. Click **Add value** and type a whole number from 0 to 999; a scale holds up to 20 values. 3. Click **Save scale**. New sessions deal the new cards. ::: info Running sessions keep their cards A session that has already started keeps its cards. ::: ## If it doesn't work * **A task is marked as skipped.** Its list's **Story Points** feature is off or its scale is empty, and a running session keeps it skipped. Fix the list ([Set up a list](/guides/set-up-a-list#turn-features-on-or-off), [Change the card values](#change-the-card-values)), then estimate the task in a new session. * **"Only you have access to this view".** Nobody else can vote yet: click **Share this view**, or [share the list or folder](/guides/share-a-folder-or-list). * **A member sees "No estimation session yet".** No session has started yet. Ask a member whose set has **Create** in **Scrum poker** (**Admin**, **Super Admin**) to start one ([Permissions and access](/reference/permissions-and-access)). * **A member sees "You are watching the session — only participants can vote".** The view isn't shared with them: [share it](/guides/share-a-folder-or-list). This applies to the workspace owner too: without a share on the view, they watch. * **"No rights on that task's list — the result is kept in the session".** The facilitator has no **Edit** access to that list (see [Share a folder or list](/guides/share-a-folder-or-list)). Someone with **Edit** access can type the estimate into the task's **Story points**. * **The session finished during a long discussion.** Nobody voted or moved on for 30 minutes. [Start a new session](#start-a-session) with the tasks that are left. * **"A session on this view has already been started".** A view holds one live session at a time. Join it, or [finish it](#finish-the-session) first. ## Related * [Share a folder or a list](/guides/share-a-folder-or-list) — who can vote depends on it. * [Sharing along the hierarchy](/concepts/sharing) — what **Edit** and **Read** access mean. * [Set up a list](/guides/set-up-a-list) — switch on **Story Points**. * [Invite members and grant permissions](/guides/invite-members-and-grant-permissions) — give a custom set **Create** in **Scrum poker**. * [Run iterative sprints by duplicating](/recipes/iterative-sprints) — start each sprint from a copy of the last one, then estimate it here. * [Task fields](/reference/task-fields) — what **Story points** is and where it shows. * [Views as lenses on tasks](/concepts/views) — Scrum Poker is a view: it shows the list's tasks without owning them. * [Permissions and access](/reference/permissions-and-access) — which sets can start a session and vote.