Tips for Running a Great Session

• Keep items small. If most of your estimates land on the larger end of your scale, the items are probably too big - split them before estimating.
• Timebox the discussion. A couple of minutes of debate per item is usually enough to surface the key disagreement. If a story needs much longer than that, it may need to be taken offline and revisited later.
• Don't chase false precision. The goal is a useful relative estimate, not an exact number. Converging quickly on "about an 8" is more valuable than spending ten minutes debating 8 versus 13.
• Treat a wide spread as useful information. Resist the urge to just average away a 2-versus-21 split. Ask the outlier voters to explain their reasoning first - that's usually where the real risk or misunderstanding is hiding.
• Use "Infinity" honestly. It isn't a joke card - it's a genuine signal that a story is too big or too vague to size yet, and needs to be broken down first.
• Use "Pass" without embarrassment. Anyone can lack the context to usefully estimate a given item - passing is more honest, and more useful to the team, than guessing.
• Rotate who calls the vote. Letting different team members lead keeps everyone engaged and avoids the session feeling like it's run top-down by one person.