[teampractices] Setting norms for points field in Phabricator

[Joel Aufrecht]

The points field is now global to all tasks, raising some interesting
questions:

1) What do engineers/product owners (staff or otherwise) working on tasks
do when community members set or change points?

2) What should we do about making points consistent across teams?

My initial thoughts/proposal, which we could run past teams we are working
with and engaged community members:

1) we should have a written policy along the lines that points is intended
to be used by people doing the engineering work on tasks, and that
therefore only those people (staff on teams working on tasks; community
members contributing code/testing/other engineering work) should edit
points.

2) We should explictly document that points cannot be compared across
teams, that there is no single standard definition or meaning for points,
and that they cannot be used in isolation to forecast.  In an analogy, I
see points as a bit like database ID fields; even if they are exposed, you
can't use them for certain things you may be tempted to use them for,
because they are warranteed for that use; instead, you should use the
appropriate derivation for your purpose.

Thoughts?



*--Joel Aufrecht*
Team Practices Group
Wikimedia Foundation
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