---
title: "Use async estimation for distributed teams"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/POKERADO/3560898577/Use%20async%20estimation%20for%20distributed%20teams"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (aura-html)

Async estimation lets your team estimate work items without meeting at the same time. It's designed for distributed teams, flexible schedules, and other situations where a live Planning Poker session isn't practical.

## What you’ll learn

In this article, you'll learn how to:

- Understand how async estimation works.
- Enable async estimation for a game.
- Decide when to use async instead of a live Planning Poker session.

## How async mode works

Each participant votes on their own schedule instead of during a shared live session. The moderator can check progress at any point to see who has voted, and reveals the results once enough estimators have submitted, or once the team agrees to move forward. The same private-first-vote mechanic applies as in a live game: nobody sees another person's estimate until the reveal.

Estimators can add a comment with their vote to explain their reasoning. This is more useful in async mode than live, since there is no real-time discussion happening. A comment like "voted 8, this touches the payment integration" gives the rest of the team context when they check the game later.

## Enable async estimation

Async mode is a toggle on the game creation screen.

- **When disabled (default):** the session runs in real time. Estimators vote simultaneously and cards are revealed dynamically.
- **When enabled:** each participant estimates at their own pace. The moderator sets the final estimate once all personal estimates are submitted.

## Compare live and async estimation

| **Live game** | **Async estimation** |
| --- | --- |
| Everyone participates together | Participants vote independently |
| Votes reveal dynamically | Moderator reveals results |
| Best for discussion | Best for distributed teams |

See [Create game](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/POKERADO/pages/3315008376) for the full list of configuration fields.

## When to use async instead of a live game

- Your team spans more than a couple of time zones.
- People work flexible or non-overlapping hours.
- You have a long backlog to estimate and don't want to schedule a full meeting for it.
- Some team members are part-time or contractors with limited overlap with the core team.

> ℹ️ **Pro-tip!**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ Many teams run both. Live games work well for the items that are genuinely contentious or unclear, where real-time discussion adds value. Async covers the rest of the backlog without requiring a meeting.