Story Points in Jira: How to Estimate (and See the Totals)
What story points are, where Jira shows them, and how to add an estimate to a story. See the sprint and backlog totals add up on a real Jira backlog.
Step by step
What are story points
- Story points. Story points say how big a story is compared with the others. They are not hours, just size. Here is where Jira shows them and how to add one.
- On every card. Each card in the backlog shows its points on the right. Track a parcel on a map has 8, which makes it one of the bigger stories.
- The totals. The sprint adds up the points for you, by status: 3 points to do, 11 in progress and 8 done.
Estimate a story
- New story. To add a new story, click Create at the bottom of the backlog. Click the work type to change it, and choose Story. Type the title, Show stock level on the product page, and press Enter. The new story appears in the backlog.
- Add the estimate. The new story has no points yet, so its card shows a dash. Click the story to open its details. Find Story point estimate in the details and click it. Many teams use only 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13. The gaps get bigger because big work is harder to guess. The team agrees it is about the same size as Apply a discount code, which is a 3. Type 3 and press Enter.
See the totals
- Totals update. The card now shows 3 instead of the dash. The backlog total goes from 20 to 23. The sprint totals stay the same, because the story is in the backlog, not the sprint. At sprint planning, the team compares totals like this with how many points they usually finish.
Recap
- Size, not hours. Story points measure size, not hours. Compare each story with one the team has already sized, let the whole team estimate, not just the analyst, and let Jira add up the totals.
Story points vs hours
Hours guess how long one person will take. Story points compare stories with each other: a 5 is roughly 2 to 3 times the work of a 2, whoever picks it up. Points cover effort, how complex the work is and how unsure the team is, so a small but risky change can still get a bigger number.
Over a few sprints the team learns its velocity, the number of points it usually finishes in a sprint, and plans the next sprint with it. That is why points only make sense inside one team: a 5 in your team is not a 5 in another team.
The story points field is missing
Jira has 2 fields with similar names. Team-managed projects use Story point estimate, which you turn on in Project settings, Features, Estimation. Company-managed projects use Story Points, and a Jira admin may need to add that field to the screen for your work type before you can see it. If it is still missing, check that the board's estimation setting is story points, not time.
How the team picks the number
Use a short list of numbers, often 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13, so nobody argues over 6 versus 7. In planning poker, everyone picks a number in secret and shows it at the same time. If the numbers are far apart, the people with the highest and lowest explain why, then the team votes again. As the business analyst, answer questions about the acceptance criteria, but let the people doing the work choose the size.
Common mistakes
- Treating points as hours. Once 1 point means 1 day, the team ends up arguing about time instead of size. Compare the new story with one you have already sized, like Apply a discount code at 3.
- Not finding the Story point estimate field. The name depends on the project. Team-managed projects use Story point estimate, while company-managed projects usually use Story Points, and a Jira admin may need to add it to that work type.
- Expecting the sprint total to change. A story made at the bottom of the backlog only counts in the backlog total. Drag it into the sprint if you want it counted there.
- The analyst picking the number alone. Points only mean something when the people doing the work agree on the size. Bring the story to refinement and let the team choose the number.
When a business analyst uses this
In backlog refinement, the analyst walks the team through each new story and its acceptance criteria, and the team agrees on a size, like 3 for Show stock level on the product page. The analyst enters it in Story point estimate, so the backlog total is ready for sprint planning.
Questions people ask
What does a story point mean in Jira?
It is a number that says how big a story is compared with other stories, not how many hours it takes. A 3 is about the same size as other 3s and smaller than an 8.
How do you add story points to a Jira ticket?
Open the story, click Story point estimate in the details, type the number and press Enter. In company-managed projects the field is usually called Story Points.
Can we give 4 story points in Jira?
Yes. The field takes any number, so Jira accepts 4. Many teams agree to use only 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 13 so the sizes are easier to tell apart.
