1 story point = 1 day

[Evan Fishman - Quely for Jira]

I keep running into this policy. More than I'd like to admit.

And every time, the same sequence plays out.

Developers start optimizing the number, not the work. Estimates balloon to protect individual track records. Sprints stop reflecting what the team can actually do.

And when something slips (and it always slips) it gets treated as a people problem.

PS: It's not a people problem.

Here's the thing:
Story points were designed to measure relative effort. Not time. Not individual output.

The moment you pin them to hours or days:

→ You're measuring individual productivity, not team throughput
→ You're punishing complexity instead of planning for it
→ You're creating a system where honest estimates are a liability

Someone posted this in r/ExperiencedDevs on Reddit asking if they're overreacting to exactly this policy at their company.

The way the organization used the estimation broke the team.

[Anne Saunders]

This is exactly why we don't bother with Story Points - Individual devs rarely agree on exactly how to assign them; the same work may represent a 3 for a senior, a 5 for a mid, and an 8 for a junior; and our customers (we're B2B custom dev) do not really care how intense or demanding the work is - only how long it will take and how much it will cost to get it delivered. 

We estimate in straight hours. 🤷‍♀️ 

[Debbie Lindsey]

Estimates will always be an estimate.  Time will show up in the velocity chart.  We use Fibonacci numbers to represent the relative effort, complexity, and unknowns to the story.  We also use capacity planning to ensure the team is available to complete the estimated work based upon yesterday's weather.  Each team is unique and different in their work, so there no need to compare one team to another regarding estimates and velocity.  It is an unhealthy culture and management that will weaponize estimation against and between teams.  Time is easy to measure and manipulate but it will not guarantee success for the team or the project.  Only working software is the ultimate measure of success.