If you've sat in a sprint planning meeting before and played games like Planning Poker to agree to story size, you're most likely very familiar with the problem of some team members perceiving stories larger or smaller than other team members. Often, the reasons may be because of misunderstanding of story scope (Acceptance Criteria) or effort may be perceived higher in certain areas (for example, a story may require full regression if there is considerable impact).
One of the methods your team can use to break the disagreement is by identifying and comparing using reference stories. A reference story is usually associated with a size on the Fibonacci sequence (if you're using them for story points) and your Scrum Master can facilitate the discussion by having the team agree that a story is either larger or smaller than a specific reference story. Remember though, sizing is really a gut feeling and is subject to change.
The best time to decide on reference stories is during Retrospective. That way, the stories are still fresh in the team's heads. Review the stories done (DONE, not almost done) during the sprint and have the team agree whether or not the size made sense. Make sure you at least get a Small, Medium, Large and possibly Larger-than-Large (but not Epic). This is one of the best ways to help a team decide on story size during upcoming sprints.
Remember too that you'll need to revisit this frequently especially if your team dynamics change.
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