We finally asked “what are story points” — right after everything went wrong on a Tuesday.
It was the all-hands meeting — product, dev, marketing, even someone from legal was there for some reason. The slide deck went up: last sprint’s velocity, planned vs. delivered, blockers, carryovers.
On paper, we’d done everything right. Tasks were estimated. Sprint capacity was calculated. The roadmap was aligned.
But then came the questions.
“Why did task #242 take twice the expected time?”
“Why were three QA tickets still open by Friday?”
“Why did we commit to 36 hours of work when the team only had 28 hours available?”
There were a few awkward chuckles. A couple of polite shrugs. One silent scream behind a muted Zoom square.
We had used hours to estimate. Again.
And, again, we were wrong.
Not because we’re bad at our jobs — we’re not. But because hours lie. They lull you into thinking you’ve got it all under control — until something small turns into a full-blown detour and suddenly your tidy timeline is a tragic comedy.
So after the call, someone finally said it out loud:
“Maybe it’s time we tried story points.”
We rolled our eyes. We resisted. But eventually, we gave in.
Here’s what we learned.
We Used Hours to Plan — Until We Asked What Are Story Points
We weren’t trying to be heroes.
Just organized.
The logic was simple: if a task would take 2 hours, we’d write “2h.” Multiply that by the number of tasks, subtract meeting time, throw in some “focus blocks,” and boom — a working sprint.
Except it never worked.
That 2-hour task? Turned into six — half of it just understanding the legacy logic.
The “quick UI tweak”? Required three Slack threads, a surprise Figma update, and an unscheduled alignment call.
QA time? Overrun because we didn’t factor in that new browser version that broke everything.
So we began doing what every team does in this phase:
we stopped trusting our own numbers.
One dev started padding all estimates “just in case.”
Another refused to estimate at all.
Sprint planning turned into a debate club.
Sprint reviews turned into therapy sessions.
Then Story Points Walked In (Casually, of Course)
It wasn’t love at first sight.
“Story points? You mean those weird agile things from certification decks?”
Yes, those.
They seemed vague. Unscientific. Made-up.
But they had one key advantage: they weren’t pretending to be time.
Instead, they asked a different question:
“How much effort will this take compared to something we’ve already done?”
Not how long. Not when. Just: how heavy is this box?
We started using the Fibonacci scale — 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13.
Why Fibonacci? Because it makes you stop before you say something like “4.75.”
It forced us to think in ranges, not illusions of precision.
And weirdly… it worked.
Planning Poker: Group Therapy for Sprint Planning
We tried Planning Poker next.
Everyone picks a number in secret, we all reveal at once.
When someone picks “2” and someone else picks “13,” we don’t argue — we ask, “What do you know that I don’t?”
That simple shift — from defending an estimate to explaining your perspective — changed everything.
We realized half our disagreement wasn’t about the work.
It was about assumptions.
One person thought “small styling change,” another thought “full redesign.”
Velocity: Suddenly, We Could See the Pattern
After a few sprints, our velocity started to stabilize.
We weren’t trying to control it — we just observed it.
No one gamed it.
No one was judged by it.
It was just a number we could rely on.
We stopped overcommitting.
We stopped sandbagging.
We started shipping… almost peacefully.
Just When We Embraced Story Points, the Hours Tried to Come Back.
Old habits die hard.
One sprint, we slipped.
We estimated everything in hours again “just to compare.”
And once again, we were wrong.
Not dramatically, but enough to feel the itch — the stress, the pressure, the second-guessing.
The story points didn’t give us certainty.
But they gave us confidence.
We stopped pretending we could out-schedule unpredictability.
And started focusing on managing effort, not time.
Why Estimation Isn’t About Math
It’s not just a number — it’s a way to communicate. A flashlight in the fog, a forecast for your sprint.
You won’t always be right. But you’ll be more prepared.
Story points didn’t fix everything. But they helped us stop faking precision and start building real team alignment.
Now we argue less, deliver smoother, and actually feel in sync.
Here’s the part no one says out loud:
time-based estimates aren’t planning — they’re theater.
They look great in spreadsheets and sprint reviews…
until reality kicks in.
Still, some teams swear by them.
Are they wrong? Maybe. Lucky? Definitely.
Jealous? A little.
What about you?
Are you team “hours and hustle”, or have you made peace with story points and imperfection?
Ever watched a sprint collapse under the weight of a wildly optimistic estimate?
We’d love to hear your war stories, your tricks, or your “never again” moments.
Drop a comment — we’re reading every one.
And if you’re curious how story points can actually work inside your workflow — not just in theory, but in the messy, everyday rhythm of real sprints —
then try story-based planning indoBoard, and see for yourself what it feels like when your estimates finally stop fighting back.
Because honestly? It’s easier — and a lot more productive — than arguing over 4 vs. 4.5.
Meanwhile, if estimating is your team’s first pain point, chances are prioritizing comes right after.
So before your next planning meeting turns into another fire drill, check out this post on how to stop firefighting and actually plan ahead.
Throughout my career, I’ve led projects in FMCG, retail, and e-commerce — from launching mobile apps to optimizing advertising and implementing CRM systems.
I’m passionate about data-driven marketing and enjoy turning complex challenges into clear, effective strategies.
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