Topic

Relative Sizing Methodology

Response

The relative sizing methodology commences with a poker planning session.

Step 1. The entire Agile team choosing a point of reference, which all future estimates shall be based upon.

Step 2.

The subject matter expert or the Product Owner describes the Feature or User Story to the Team
a few minutes are given up to answer any questions individual members may have.

Step 3.

Each member of the Team blindly estimates the effort of the Feature or User Story. Commonly known as poker planning this approach requires the team to determine whether the new Feature or User Story is smaller, the same or larger in complexity to the reference Feature or User Story.

Poker planning is an efficient way to learn whether individual team members interpret the requirements differently.
And importantly the discussion that follows covers different expert views .

Furthermore, the strengths of cross-functional poker planning can be categorised as:

Diversity. Each team member provides a unique perspective.
Independence. Individual opinions aren't influenced by those around them.
Decentralisation. People are able to draw on their own specialist knowledge.
Aggregation. Efficient way to convert private opinions into a collective decision.
Trust. Each person trusts the collective group to be fair.
Numbers. With everyone contributing the team benefits from the wisdom of the crowd

Step 4.

Should the blind estimating reveal a variation across the team, then each member explains what influenced their estimate. This sharing also,

helps improve the conditions of satisfaction
helps refine the acceptance criteria
identify any dependancies
surface any potential issues or risks

Further blind estimating cycles are then performed until the team agrees on a single estimate.

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Additional information, including working examples and templates are available in the Monetical knowledge base.