Async Estimation Strategies for Global Teams
Team across 12 time zones (SF to Singapore). Synchronous planning poker is impossible. How do you do async estimation without losing the collaborative benefit of planning poker?
Async first, sync for conflicts only. Use Jira or similar: PO writes stories with acceptance criteria. Everyone estimates within 24h window. Tool auto-reveals after deadline. For stories with >3 point variance, schedule 30-min sync discussion at overlap hours (usually early SF / late Singapore).
Works for 80% of stories, only 20% need sync time.
Video explanations replace sync discussion. When you estimate, record 1-min Loom video explaining your reasoning. High/low estimators share videos. Others watch and adjust. Creates same transparency as live discussion but async. We've used this 2 years, works great.
Slack threads for each story. Everyone drops their estimate + reasoning as threaded reply. Visible to all. Natural consensus emerges through replies. If major disagreement, escalate to sync meeting. But 70% of stories reach consensus purely via thread discussion.