{"id":20480,"date":"2022-06-28T13:14:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T18:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/story-points-and-flow-metrics-whats-the-difference\/"},"modified":"2023-03-09T15:04:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T21:04:56","slug":"story-points-and-flow-metrics-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.planview.com\/story-points-and-flow-metrics-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Points and Flow Metrics: What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Story<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Ron Jeffries, who helped coin the concept of story points back in the 2000s, said recently<\/span><\/a> that he \u201cdeplore[s] their misuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the early days of story points, developers \u201creally only used the points to decide how much work to take into an iteration,\u201d says Jeffries. But some organizations expanded their use, using story points to predict when things will be done and to track actual vs. predicted progress. Many, including Jeffries, have pointed out that it\u2019s problematic to use story points in this way, because<\/p>\n

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  1. it\u2019s inaccurate, and<\/li>\n
  2. it distracts from what\u2019s really important, which is delivering value to customers<\/strong>.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is not to say that story points aren\u2019t useful \u2013 many organizations find them very effective. But story points alone aren\u2019t sufficient.<\/p>\n

    Nowadays, frameworks like SAFe\u00ae<\/sup> recommend that you use Flow Metrics<\/span><\/a> to measure and improve efficiency, velocity, and predictability. If you like story points and want to keep story points around, the question becomes, \u201cwhen is it appropriate to rely on story points, and when should we use Flow Metrics?\u201d In this blog, we\u2019ll answer that question.<\/p>\n

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    Table of Contents<\/p>\nToggle<\/span><\/path><\/svg><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n