5 reasons to try physical cards in Planning Poker

I first introduced physical Planning Poker cards into a Refinement session when I noticed that a team that was currently using their fingers to indicate story point estimations was only ever using 1,2 or 3 as their estimates. On the surface this might not have been a problem (maybe they were just great at breaking stories down really small?), but in reality it was impacting the discussions they had during Refinement sessions. The difference between a 1 or a 2 felt so small that the discussion ended at ‘oh, I’ll happily come up to a 2 if that’s what everyone else thinks’.

I tried using physical cards as an experiment to try and encourage a greater range of estimates and more in-depth discussion - the results were even more significant than I’d expected:

1. Using real cards makes it easy for teams to use large numbers for their estimates.

It sounds daft, but people only have 5 fingers. If you’re using the Fibonacci sequence, giving an estimate of up to 5 is easy, but anything larger than that requires a bit more effort. A second hand for an 8, and maybe a few extra limbs to show a 13 or 21! Cards make this really easy. All the options are in front of you, you just have to pick the one you want. It’s a small barrier to remove, but the team quickly started using the ’21’ card as a red flag to show they thought the story was too big to tackle within a sprint, or not well enough understood, prompting much better discussion. They also liked the card in the deck showing a coffee cup, for when they were tired and needed to ask for a break!

2. It’s harder to quickly change cards than fingers!

When the team estimated using their fingers, I noticed that despite the ‘3, 2, 1, estimate’ countdown, there were definitely some members of the team that did a quick change of fingers shown once they saw what everyone else had put up. This defeats the object of planning poker - it’s the differences in opinion you need to drive thorough discussion around what needs to be done to implement the ticket. However, once a card was shown it was a lot more obvious if people tried to change their initial estimate after the countdown, leading to more variation in estimates and better discussion.

3. Using cards drives engagement and accountability

When the team used their fingers for estimates they found it easy to change their estimates after the countdown. However, because they knew that would be harder with cards, they felt more motivated to clarify their understanding of the ticket properly, before they started to estimate them. The level of engagement went up, as team members sought to make sure they understood what was required well enough not to give an estimate that was such an outlier that it was clear they’d drifted off somewhere in the discussion of the ticket’s requirements!

4. Holding cards makes it harder to fiddle with anything else

I know - in an ideal world, there are no phones, laptops or other distracting beeping things in your Scrum events. But it’s all too easy for them to creep in. Physically holding cards makes it much harder to ‘just look at that message’, because your hands are occupied. I know there are apps that can be used for estimation, but I find that having the distracting device in your hand makes it way too tempting to take a look when a notification comes in! Also, fiddling with the cards and choosing the right one to show gives idle hands something to do - something that’s shown to improve concentration levels. This improved focus in the meeting, meaning that refinement sessions could be quicker and more effective.

5. It’s fun!

Holding actual cards makes estimation feel like a game and removes some of the seriousness and fear around estimating. Also, the coffee card or an unexpected ’21’ from a neighbour when you thought the estimate was more of a ‘1’ injects a little humour into what can be a bit of a relentless meeting. The team enjoyed using the cards and now bring them to every refinement session.

Planning Poker cards are readily available, inexpensive and come with a range of numbers on (although 1-21 plus a ‘coffee’ card is still my favourite). They’re a really simple change to introduce to your Refinement sessions, but they can make all the difference to the quality of discussion and shared understanding of the work ahead, meaning fewer blockers and improved cycle times. Not bad for deck of cards!