What story points measure
A story point combines the work the team can see with technical complexity, dependencies, testing effort, and unknowns. The number belongs to that team and product. Five points does not mean five hours, and a five-point story for one team is not automatically equal to a five-point story for another.
Choose reference stories
Start with two or three completed stories that the team understands well. Give them relative sizes, then compare new work with those references. Stable examples make the scale easier to explain and reduce arguments about what an isolated number should mean.
Estimate with planning poker
Present a refined story, answer questions, and let each participant choose a point value privately. Reveal together and discuss the widest differences. If one person noticed a dependency or edge case, update the shared understanding before voting again.
Use points for planning
After several sprints, completed points can help the team describe its usual delivery range. Use that history to support forecasts rather than turning points into a target or an individual productivity measure. The estimate should help the team make a decision, not become a performance score.