Q: You are a Product Owner estimating some user stories with your team. Using the Planning Poker™ method of estimation, you notice one of your team members has chosen the coffee card as part of their estimation. What does this typically mean?
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Q: As a product owner, you and your team are estimating some user stories. You see that one of your team members included the coffee card in their estimate using the Planning PokerTM process. What does this usually imply?
- The team member wants to end the meeting and stop.
- They don’t have enough information to make an estimate.
- They want to take a break.
- There are no estimates to provide.
Explanation: When playing Planning PokerTM, if a player uses the coffee card as an estimate, it is most probable that they are trying to communicate their desire for a stop in the conversation or a break from the topic at hand. The coffee card is sometimes used as a signal to signify that the person needs a break, a change of pace, or just a minute to walk away and refresh themselves. Other times, it is simply used as a signal to suggest that the person needs coffee. During the process of estimating, it is a means for members of the team to convey to one another in a manner that is not verbal that they may need a break. It’s a fun approach to add some comedy and acknowledge the human need for breaks and pauses in conversations that are either very heated or particularly long.
