Our friends at Applied Frameworks have published 3 recent blogs on the topic of Relative Estimation for Agile Teams.

1. Relative Estimation with Reference Stories
2. Why Relative Estimation Beats Planning Poker
3. How to Learn the Team Estimation Game

Each techniques has its merits and the articles detail the tradeoffs between the frameworks and games and, importantly how the Relative Estimation framework has effectively superseded Planning Poker.

The first article shows an example of a Reference Story Board (with downloadable story board) and how to use to simplify and speed up the process of estimating new work.