Story Points: A relative number teams use to estimate how much effort or complexity a story involves. They are not hours.
Example
The team estimates a simple form at 2 points and a payment integration at 8 points.
Why Story Points matter for IT interns
You may be asked to estimate. It is fine to say you are unsure and explain what makes the task uncertain.
Where you will hear it
You will hear this term in team routines such as stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives. If someone uses it and you are not sure what they mean in your project, it is completely fine to ask; every team uses terms a little differently.
Related terms
- Sprint: A short, fixed period — usually one to four weeks — in which the team aims to finish a planned set of work.
- Sprint Backlog: The items the team has committed to in the current sprint, plus the plan for completing them.
- Sprint Planning: A meeting at the start of a sprint where the team decides which work to take on and roughly how to do it.
- Sprint Review: A meeting at the end of a sprint where the team shows the finished work to stakeholders and collects feedback.
- Task: A small, specific piece of work, often part of a user story.
- User Story: A short description of a feature from the user’s point of view, often written as "As a [user], I want…
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Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What are Story Points?
A relative number teams use to estimate how much effort or complexity a story involves. They are not hours.
What is an example of Story Points?
The team estimates a simple form at 2 points and a payment integration at 8 points.
Why do Story Points matter for IT interns?
You may be asked to estimate. It is fine to say you are unsure and explain what makes the task uncertain.
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About the author
Dhaivat has 16+ years of experience in the IT industry, working on AI and cloud technologies, project delivery, and engineering leadership. He has interviewed and mentored many interns, wrote The Lost Intern, and runs the non-commercial Career Impact Initiative, mentoring students for free.