If your team speaks Hindi and you want accurate, collaborative estimates, planning poker in hindi is a practical, engaging technique that transforms vague guesses into shared understanding. In this article I’ll explain what planning poker is, why it works, how to run sessions in Hindi (including sample scripts and phrases), tools that help remote and hybrid teams, common pitfalls, and advanced variations. If you prefer a quick reference or want to share the approach with colleagues, see this link: planning poker in hindi.
What is planning poker?
Planning poker is a consensus-based estimation method commonly used in Scrum and Agile teams. Each participant privately chooses a card representing their estimate (often from the Fibonacci-like sequence 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, 100). Everyone reveals simultaneously so that dominant voices don’t influence others. Differences lead to short discussions, and rounds repeat until the team converges on an estimate.
At its heart planning poker is about relative sizing and shared knowledge. Instead of saying “this will take 5 days,” teams compare a new item to previously completed stories and answer “is this larger or smaller than story X?” That comparison reduces anchoring bias and surfaces assumptions early.
Why run sessions in Hindi?
- Clarity: Team members express assumptions and risks in the language they’re most comfortable with.
- Inclusion: Non-native English speakers participate more fully when conversation and debate happen in Hindi.
- Faster alignment: Cultural and idiomatic context improves the speed and depth of discussions.
Using planning poker in hindi is not merely translation — it’s adapting facilitation, examples, and metaphors so the team can form mental models quickly and align on scope.
When to use planning poker
- Backlog refinement and sprint planning for cross-functional teams.
- When you need relative estimates rather than exact hours.
- When you want to avoid single-person bias (e.g., senior dev anchoring estimates).
Don’t use it as a time-tracking tool. Planning poker is about complexity, risk, and effort relative to other work — not a promise of calendar days.
How to run an effective session — step by step
- Prepare the backlog: Choose 6–12 well-defined stories for a 60–90 minute session. Each story should have acceptance criteria and a mock or wireframe if relevant.
- Set the context in Hindi: Start with a 2–3 minute overview. Sample script: “हम प्रत्येक स्टोरी का आकार तुलना के आधार पर लगाएँगे। अगर कोई शंका है, तो उसे खुलकर रखें।” (We will size stories based on comparison. If you have doubts, speak up.)
- Pick the scale: Fibonacci (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13) is common. For larger items, use buckets (Small/Medium/Large) or tee-shirt sizes (S/M/L/XL).
- First round of estimation: Product Owner quickly reads the story. Each participant selects a card privately. Everyone reveals simultaneously.
- Discuss divergences: If estimates vary, invite the highest and lowest estimators to explain their reasoning in Hindi: “मैंने 8 इसलिए चुना क्योंकि…”, “मेरा 2 का कारण यह है कि…” (I chose 8 because…, My 2 is because…).
- Re-estimate: After a focused discussion, do another simultaneous reveal. Repeat once or twice until convergence.
- Record consensus: Note the agreed story points and any open risks or assumptions for the ticket.
Keep rounds short. The objective is shared understanding, not exhaustive design. If the team can’t agree after two rounds, split the story or decompose until it’s estimate-friendly.
Practical Hindi phrases and facilitator lines
- “स्टोरी का संक्षेप बताइए।” — Briefly describe the story.
- “क्या यहाँ कोई आशंका/रिस्क है?” — Are there any concerns/risks?
- “कृपया संक्षेप में बताएं कि आपने ये अनुमान क्यों लगाया।” — Please briefly explain why you chose this estimate.
- “अगर हमें यह छोटा/बड़ा करना पड़े तो किन हिस्सों को जोड़ना या हटाना होगा?” — If we need to make this smaller/larger, which parts change?
- “आइए इसे तोड़ दें।” — Let’s split this.
Tools for distributed teams
Remote and hybrid teams can run planning poker with digital tools that replicate card reveals and timers. Popular options include Miro, MURAL, Jira add-ons, and dedicated apps like Planning Poker Online or Scrum Poker. These tools support simultaneous reveal, anonymous voting, and history tracking.
Be mindful of tool choice: pick one that supports Hindi characters in story titles and comments, and that your team can access without restrictive firewalls. If you prefer a simple setup, use a conferencing tool with a shared board and ask participants to type their chosen card privately in a chat that the facilitator reveals at once.
Real-world example (personal anecdote)
In a project I led with a Mumbai-based team, we switched to planning poker in Hindi after several missed sprint commitments. We discovered the root cause: English-based requirements hid implicit assumptions about user flows. After one retrospective we tried a short experiment — one sprint of planning poker in Hindi. Developers explained edge cases in local idioms, QA called out UI expectations, and product clarified acceptance criteria using examples from regional users. Our sprint predictability improved within three iterations and the team reported higher confidence. The simple change in language unlocked a lot of tacit knowledge.
Advanced techniques and variations
- Affinity Estimation: Quickly group similar stories into size buckets, then refine individual estimates. Good when you have many small items.
- Bucket System: Use numbered buckets on a virtual board; participants drag stories into buckets simultaneously. Fast for big backlogs.
- Three-point estimates: For high-risk items, capture optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates and compute an expected value. Use sparingly to avoid slowing the team.
- AI-assisted suggestions: Some tools can propose estimates based on historical velocity. Treat these as inputs, not decisions — always discuss human context.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- Anchoring: If one person speaks before cards are revealed, others get biased. Enforce the simultaneous reveal rule and mute the meeting audio if necessary.
- Over-discussing: Discussions that exceed five minutes per story usually mean the story needs decomposition. Break it down and re-estimate.
- Turning points into tasks: Estimation should not become detailed task breakdown. Keep the focus on scope and risk, not to-do lists.
- Language mix-ups: If some members are bilingual, encourage switching entirely to Hindi for clarity, or keep a dual note with English keywords so external stakeholders can follow later.
Integrating estimates into planning and forecasting
Once you have story points, use your team’s historical velocity (average points completed per sprint) to forecast how many stories fit into upcoming sprints. Update velocity every sprint and treat it as a guide, not a hard commitment. Use planning poker outcomes to inform prioritization conversations with the Product Owner — a high-value, high-effort item might be deprioritized in favor of several smaller wins.
Measuring success
Evaluation should combine quantitative and qualitative signals:
- Quantitative: sprint predictability (planned vs completed points), number of reopened stories, cycle time for estimated vs non-estimated items.
- Qualitative: team confidence, reduced rework due to misunderstood requirements, feedback from stakeholders in retrospective.
Sample retrospective questions (in Hindi)
- “क्या हमने सही तरीके से अनुमान लगाया?” — Did we estimate correctly?
- “किस स्टोरी में सबसे अधिक अनिश्चितता थी?” — Which story had the most uncertainty?
- “हम अगली बार प्रक्रिया कैसे बेहतर कर सकते हैं?” — How can we improve next time?
Frequently asked questions
How long should a planning poker session be?
For a typical two-week sprint, 60–90 minutes works well. Keep sessions time-boxed and focus on the top-priority backlog items.
Should testers and designers participate?
Yes — planning poker benefits from cross-functional perspectives. Designers and testers often spot edge cases developers don’t consider, which changes estimates materially.
What if my team prefers hours?
Story points are about relative complexity and risk. If stakeholders demand hours, translate points into hours using historical velocity but make clear that points drive prioritization, and hours are a derived metric.
Conclusion
Planning poker in hindi is a powerful way to make estimation inclusive, precise, and collaborative for Hindi-speaking teams. It reduces bias, surfaces assumptions, and builds shared understanding — all of which improve sprint predictability and product quality. Start small: try one facilitated session, keep a short script in Hindi, and iterate from there. If you want an accessible starting resource to share with your team, here’s a quick link you can use: planning poker in hindi.
Ready to run your first session? Begin with three well-defined stories, set a 45-minute timer, and focus on conversation over counting. The real value is the alignment that comes after everyone has spoken and listened.
