Planning Poker Silent Voting Benefits

Question

Is simultaneous card reveal really necessary or just ceremony? We've been doing round-robin reveals (each person says their estimate out loud) and it seems fine.

planning_poker_purist · Accepted Answer

Simultaneous reveal is THE POINT of planning poker. Round-robin creates massive anchoring bias - first person says '5', everyone after gravitates toward it. Simultaneous reveals force independent thinking. We tested both: round-robin had 80% of estimates within ±1 of first estimate. Simultaneous had true variance. You're doing 'planning' but not 'poker' without the reveal.

facilitation_expert_kim · Answer

The silence before reveal is when real thinking happens. No talking allowed until everyone's card is face-up. This prevents loud voices from dominating and juniors from self-censoring. Silent voting = democratic voting.

anonymous_voting_fan · Answer

We added anonymous voting using online tool. Even MORE effective than physical cards because nobody sees body language or hesitation. Pure estimates, no social pressure. Variance increased 40% - found way more edge cases.

realistic_coach · Answer

Exception: if team is truly mature and psychologically safe, round-robin is fine. But most teams THINK they're mature when they're not. Simultaneous reveal is the safety net. Don't remove it unless you're certain anchoring isn't happening.