Story points and velocity in Agile in Software Engineering - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Story points and velocity in Agile

Team estimates tasks with story points

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Sprint starts: team works on tasks

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Sprint ends: count completed story points

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Calculate velocity = total story points done

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Use velocity to plan next sprint's workload

The team assigns story points to tasks, completes them in a sprint, then measures velocity by summing completed points to plan future sprints.

Execution Sample

Software Engineering

Sprint 1 tasks: 3, 5, 2 points
Sprint 1 done: 3, 5 points
Velocity = 8 points
Plan Sprint 2 with ~8 points

Shows how story points completed in Sprint 1 determine velocity used for Sprint 2 planning.

Analysis Table

Step	Action	Story Points Assigned	Story Points Completed	Velocity Calculation	Planning Outcome
1	Estimate tasks	Task A=3, Task B=5, Task C=2
2	Sprint work
3	Complete tasks		Task A=3, Task B=5 done; Task C=2 not done
4	Calculate velocity			3 + 5 = 8
5	Plan next sprint				Plan ~8 story points workload

💡 Velocity calculated after sprint ends by summing completed story points

State Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 3	After Step 4	Final
Story Points Assigned	0	3,5,2	3,5,2	3,5,2	3,5,2
Story Points Completed	0	0	3,5	3,5	3,5
Velocity	0	0	0	8	8
Planned Sprint Points	0	0	0	0	8

Key Insights - 3 Insights

Why do we add only completed story points to calculate velocity?

Velocity counts only completed work to reflect actual team capacity, as shown in step 4 of the execution_table where only done tasks (3 and 5 points) are summed.

Can velocity change every sprint?

Yes, velocity can vary because the team may complete different amounts of work each sprint, which is why velocity is recalculated every sprint (step 4).

Why not use story points assigned for planning instead of velocity?

Story points assigned show estimated effort, but velocity shows real completed work, making it a better guide for planning future sprints (step 5).

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table at step 4. What is the velocity calculated?

A 8 story points

B 10 story points

C 5 story points

D 0 story points

💡 Hint

Check the 'Velocity Calculation' column in step 4 of the execution_table.

At which step do we see the team completing only some of the tasks?

A Step 1

B Step 3

C Step 5

D Step 2

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Story Points Completed' column in the execution_table to find partial completion.

If the team completed all tasks, how would velocity change at step 4?

A Velocity would be 5 story points

B Velocity would be 8 story points

C Velocity would be 10 story points

D Velocity would be 0 story points

💡 Hint

Sum all story points assigned (3+5+2) if all tasks are done, check variable_tracker for assigned points.

Concept Snapshot

Story points estimate task effort.
Velocity = sum of completed story points in a sprint.
Velocity helps plan realistic future sprint workloads.
Only completed points count toward velocity.
Velocity changes each sprint based on actual work done.

Full Transcript

In Agile, teams estimate tasks using story points to represent effort. During a sprint, the team works on these tasks. At sprint end, they count only the story points of tasks fully completed. This sum is called velocity. Velocity shows how much work the team can finish in a sprint. Teams use velocity to plan how many story points to take on in the next sprint, aiming for a realistic workload. Velocity changes each sprint depending on actual completed work. This helps teams improve planning and delivery over time.