Jira – Everhour Blog https://everhour.com/blog Project Management & Productivity Thu, 15 Aug 2024 08:15:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 https://everhour.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-favicon-on-green-32x32.png Jira – Everhour Blog https://everhour.com/blog 32 32 Master Jira Service Management: The Key to ITSM Excellence https://everhour.com/blog/jira-service-management/ Thu, 15 Aug 2024 11:11:23 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=44651 Efficient and responsive IT service management is crucial for maintaining operational continuity and meeting customer expectations. Enter Jira Service Management—a powerful tool designed to streamline service delivery, enhance support efficiency, and foster collaboration within teams. With its origins in the popular Jira software, this platform extends its capabilities to include ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) […]

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Efficient and responsive IT service management is crucial for maintaining operational continuity and meeting customer expectations. Enter Jira Service Management—a powerful tool designed to streamline service delivery, enhance support efficiency, and foster collaboration within teams. With its origins in the popular Jira software, this platform extends its capabilities to include ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) practices and offers a range of features tailored to modern IT service management needs.

Jira ITSM tool offers the flexibility and scalability required to adapt to diverse organizational requirements. This article will delve into the core features, benefits, and best practices for leveraging Jira Service Management to optimize service delivery and drive operational excellence.

What is IT Service Management and Why Do You Need It?

IT Service Management (ITSM) refers to the entirety of activities, processes, and policies implemented by an organization to design, deliver, manage, and improve the IT services provided to its customers. ITSM is based on the premise that IT should be delivered as a service, focusing on aligning IT services with the needs of the business and its end-users.

Key concepts of IT Service Management

  1. Strategy: Defines the approach to delivering IT services, aligning them with business goals.
  2. Design: Ensures services are designed effectively and meet customer requirements.
  3. Transition: Manages the transition of new or changed services into the operational environment.
  4. Operation: Focuses on the day-to-day management of IT services.
  5. Continual service improvement: Encourages constant evaluation and improvement of IT services.
master jira service management: the key to itsm excellence
source: OMR

What is Jira Service Management used for?

💪 Enhanced efficiency and productivity

  • Standardized processes ensure consistent and efficient delivery of IT services.
  • Automation reduces manual errors and allows IT staff to focus on strategic initiatives.

↗️ Improved service quality

  • Aligning IT services with business needs and customer expectations ensures high service quality and customer satisfaction.
  • Effective incident management processes minimize service disruptions and ensure timely resolution of issues.

⚖️ Better resource management

  • ITSM helps manage and control IT costs through efficient resource allocation and budget management.
  • Keeping track of IT assets and their lifecycle enhances decision-making regarding upgrades, maintenance, and decommissioning.

📑 Compliance and risk management

  • ITSM frameworks assist organizations in meeting regulatory requirements and industry standards.
  • Proactive identification and management of risks reduce the likelihood of service disruptions and security breaches.

🗻 Continuous improvement

  • ITSM emphasizes the importance of feedback loops and continual service improvement, ensuring that IT services evolve to meet changing business needs.
  • Regular monitoring and analysis of performance metrics enable organizations to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary changes.

To complement the structured IT service management approach, integrating a robust Jira time-tracking solution like Everhour can further enhance your team’s efficiency. By seamlessly syncing with Jira project management tool, Everhour ensures that time management is as streamlined and effective as your IT services. It is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

In the following sections, we will explore how Jira Service Management embodies these principles and offers a comprehensive solution for modern IT service management.


Jira Service Management: The Ultimate Guide

What is Jira Service Management (JSM)

Jira Service Management (JSM) is a comprehensive service management platform developed by Atlassian. It enables IT and operations teams to manage service requests, incidents, problems, and changes with greater efficiency. JSM integrates seamlessly with other Atlassian tools like Jira Software and Confluence, providing teams with a unified platform to collaborate, automate workflows, and deliver high-quality service experiences. With various features and an intuitive user interface, JSM helps organizations streamline their service delivery and enhance customer satisfaction.

Core features

Incident management

Jira Service Management is designed to streamline the incident management process, making it easier for IT teams to quickly respond to and resolve issues. Incidents can be logged via multiple channels, including email, service portals, and integrations with monitoring tools like Opsgenie and PagerDuty. These integrations ensure that incidents are automatically prioritized and assigned based on predefined rules, enabling teams to respond faster.

master jira service management: the key to itsm excellence

Additionally, JSM’s real-time collaboration tools allow teams to share information, communicate with stakeholders, and access historical data, facilitating quick decision-making and incident resolution. The platform also supports post-incident reviews (PIRs), which help teams learn from past incidents and prevent recurrence.

Request management

JSM provides a centralized platform where employees can submit service requests. These requests can range from IT support needs to HR queries, and they are automatically routed to the appropriate team based on preconfigured workflows. The service portal is customizable, allowing teams to design forms and request types that suit their specific needs.

With the help of self-service options, such as a knowledge base, users can often resolve their own issues without needing to submit a request, reducing the overall ticket volume. The platform also includes tools for monitoring service level agreements (SLAs), ensuring that requests are handled within the agreed timeframes.

Change management

Change management in JSM is tightly integrated with both incident and problem management, providing a holistic view of how changes might impact the IT environment. JSM’s risk assessment tools analyze proposed changes, identifying potential risks and providing recommendations for mitigation. This feature is particularly useful for organizations that follow ITIL practices, as it helps to ensure that changes are made in a controlled and compliant manner.

JSM also integrates with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Bitbucket, Jenkins), allowing teams to automate the deployment of changes while maintaining visibility and control. Approval workflows can be set up to ensure that changes are reviewed and approved by the necessary stakeholders before implementation.

Problem management

JSM’s problem management features are designed to help teams identify the root causes of incidents and prevent them from happening again. Problems can be linked to related incidents, providing a clear view of the impact and helping teams prioritize their efforts. JSM offers tools for root cause analysis, such as fishbone diagrams and five whys analysis, which can be used to systematically identify underlying issues.

master jira service management: the key to itsm excellence

Once a problem is identified, teams can track the implementation of permanent fixes and monitor the effectiveness of these fixes over time. This proactive approach helps to reduce the number of recurring incidents and improve overall service reliability.

Knowledge base

The knowledge base feature in JSM is powered by Confluence, Atlassian’s collaborative workspace platform. It enables teams to build a comprehensive repository of information that can be accessed by both support teams and end-users. Articles in the knowledge base can include step-by-step guides, FAQs, and troubleshooting tips, making it easier for users to resolve common issues on their own. The integration with Confluence means that articles can be easily updated and expanded over time, ensuring that the knowledge base remains relevant and up-to-date.


How to set up Jira Service Management

Setting up JSM is straightforward but requires careful planning to align it with your organization’s needs:

1️⃣ Initial setup:

  • Create a project: Begin by setting up a service project. Choose from available templates (ITSM, HR, etc.) that best match your needs.
  • Configure request types: Define the types of requests your service desk will handle (e.g., IT support, software requests).
  • Set up workflows: Customize workflows for different request types, ensuring they reflect your organization’s processes.
master jira service management: the key to itsm excellence

2️⃣ User management:

  • Roles and permissions: Assign roles and permissions to ensure the right people have access to the appropriate information.
  • Service desk agents: Add agents to your service project who will manage and resolve requests.
master jira service management: the key to itsm excellence

3️⃣ Customer portal customization:

  • Design the portal: Customize the customer portal to ensure it’s user-friendly and reflects your brand.
  • Set up SLAs: Define Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to set expectations and monitor performance.
master jira service management: the key to itsm excellence

Automation & integration

It is a powerful feature of JSM that can significantly improve efficiency and reduce manual work:

Automation rules

  • Trigger-based actions: Set up rules that automatically trigger actions based on specific events (e.g., auto-assigning tickets, sending notifications).
  • Escalations: Automate escalations for tickets that breach SLA conditions, ensuring issues are addressed promptly.

Integrations

  • Atlassian ecosystem: Seamlessly integrate with Jira Software, Confluence, and Bitbucket to enhance collaboration.
  • Third-party integrations: Use pre-built integrations or APIs to connect with other tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and more.

Best practices for using Jira Service Management

Continuous improvement

Continuously refining your workflows and processes is key to maintaining an efficient IT service management system. Regularly review your incident, request, change, and problem management processes to identify bottlenecks, redundancies, or outdated practices. Use data-driven insights from JSM’s reporting tools to assess the effectiveness of your current workflows. For example, analyze trends in incident response times or change success rates to pinpoint areas for improvement and incorporate feedback from your IT teams and end-users.

Effective use of SLAs

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are more than just contractual obligations; they are powerful tools for driving performance improvements. Align your SLAs with business objectives to ensure that they reflect the priorities of your organization. For instance, critical incidents that impact customer-facing services might require more aggressive response and resolution times.

Use JSM’s SLA tracking and reporting features to monitor compliance and identify trends that could indicate potential issues. Regularly review and adjust SLAs based on changes in business priorities or service performance data.

Self-service

Empowering users to solve their own problems through self-service is one of the most effective ways to reduce ticket volume and improve resolution times. Encourage the use of the knowledge base by making it easily accessible through the service portal. Ensure that the knowledge base is populated with high-quality, up-to-date articles that address common issues and questions. Promote self-service through training sessions, internal communications, and user guides.

Regular training

Training is essential to ensure that both your agents and end-users are fully equipped to make the most of Jira Service Management’s features. Regular training sessions should be scheduled to cover new features, best practices, and any changes to workflows or processes. For agents, training should include advanced JSM functionalities, such as automation, integration, and reporting, as well as soft skills like communication and customer service.


Advanced features

For organizations aiming to unlock the full potential of Jira Service Management (JSM), several advanced features can offer significant added value. These tools not only enhance the basic ITSM functions but also provide deeper insights, better control, and more efficient workflows across the organization.

Insight asset management

Insight is an asset and configuration management tool integrated within JSM, designed to help organizations manage their assets, services, and infrastructure more effectively. With Insight, you can maintain a comprehensive inventory of hardware, software, and other critical assets, linking them to relevant incidents, changes, or problems within the ITSM framework.

This integration allows for better visibility and control over your IT environment, enabling more informed decision-making. For example, when an incident occurs, Insight can quickly identify the affected assets and their dependencies, helping to accelerate resolution times and reduce the risk of future issues.

Opsgenie integration

Opsgenie, an Atlassian tool that integrates seamlessly with JSM, enhances your incident management capabilities by providing advanced on-call scheduling, alerting, and escalation features. This integration ensures that the right people are notified of incidents at the right time, reducing response times and improving the overall efficiency of your IT operations.

Opsgenie’s robust alerting system allows for customizable alerts based on incident severity, ensuring that critical issues receive immediate attention. Additionally, the escalation policies within Opsgenie help ensure that if an incident is not resolved within a certain timeframe, it is automatically escalated to the next level, preventing delays in resolution.


❗ Security issues

While JSM is generally secure, it’s essential to be aware of potential security issues and how to mitigate them:

  1. Data protection: Ensure that sensitive information is protected by configuring permissions correctly.
  2. Regular updates: Keep your JSM instance up-to-date to benefit from the latest security patches.
  3. Audit logs: Use audit logs to track changes and detect any unauthorized access or modifications.
  4. User access controls: Implement strict access controls and regularly review permissions to minimize security risks.

🔧 Troubleshooting common issues

Even with the best setup, issues can arise. Here are some common troubleshooting tips:

  1. Slow performance: Check for excessive automation rules or integrations that might be slowing down the system.
  2. Email notifications not working: Ensure that your email settings are correctly configured and that your service desk is not being blacklisted.
  3. Permission issues: If users can’t access certain features, review their roles and permissions.
  4. Custom field errors: Make sure custom fields are correctly configured and associated with the relevant request types.

Jira Service Management: Conclusion

Jira Service Management is a versatile and powerful tool for IT service management, offering a range of features from basic ticketing to advanced asset management. By following best practices and leveraging its full capabilities, your organization can deliver exceptional service while maintaining control over its IT environment. This guide should provide you with a solid foundation for setting up and optimizing Jira Service Management.

To enhance efficiency, integrating Everhour can provide seamless time tracking and project management, helping your team stay on top of service requests and optimize their workflow.

The post Master Jira Service Management: The Key to ITSM Excellence appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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Jira vs Trello: Finding Your Perfect Project Management Match https://everhour.com/blog/trello-vs-jira-the-ultimate-face-off/ Sun, 26 May 2024 12:26:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=20974 Trello vs Jira remains a relevant debate for companies that need project management software tools. However, this is not a marketing war between two project management software companies since both tools belong to Atlassian. Belonging to the same parent company doesn’t mean that the features for Jira and Trello are the same. They vary considerably, […]

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Trello vs Jira remains a relevant debate for companies that need project management software tools. However, this is not a marketing war between two project management software companies since both tools belong to Atlassian.

Belonging to the same parent company doesn’t mean that the features for Jira and Trello are the same. They vary considerably, and there’s a lot to learn about both software tools. 

Having hands-on experience with multiple project management software programs, here’s what we have concluded about the Trello vs Jira debate. Let’s start with a brief introduction to how to use Jira and Trello.


What is Trello?

15 best asana alternatives:  breakdown

Trello is a collaboration tool immensely popular with professionals. The software solution is prevalent worldwide due to its user-friendly interface and tracking and debugging features. 

Trello offers a Kanban-based project management solution where you can see which projects are in the pipeline, who is performing which tasks, and the overall performance of a project through visual charts.


What is Jira?

how to configure jira time tracking: native & everhour time trackers

Jira is a family of project management tools with many power-packed solutions for teams working on agile projects. The software uses Kanban, scrum boards, and sprint methodologies to break down projects into smaller, more manageable chunks.

There are actually three different products that belong to the Jira family: Jira Core, Jira Software, and Jira Service Desk. Each of these offers varying features and hosting options. Obviously, they differ in prices too.

Jira Core offers Jira features that business teams need to manage their work. On the other hand, Jira software is specially built for agile teams. In short, Jira core doesn’t have agile functionalities while Jira software does.

While the first two are perfect for teams, the Jira service desk is meant for end-users. It’s designed to allow them to submit tickets to a help desk team.

In this post, we’ll focus on the comparison between Jira Software and Trello. But since Jira Core and Jira Software share similar features, some parts of this post may also count as a Jira Core vs Trello comparison.


Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!


Jira vs Trello: Breakdown

Jira is great for teams that need to work in an agile environment while Trello remains a favorite in work environments where simple task breakdown can speed up performance. Let’s see how they fare in terms of the most basic features PM tools can provide.

What is the difference between Jira and Trello?

The primary difference between the two tools is that Trello exclusively provides Kanban boards, whereas Jira offers a broader range of board options including Kanban, Scrum, and sprint boards. Both Scrum and Kanban boards are employed to visually monitor a project’s task progression.

🔨 Key Features

Since they are two different project management tools created for different teams, the best way to start our face-off is to compare the Jira board vs Trello.

Trello is packed with Kanban boards that you can drag and drop to your convenience. The task breakdowns can also be tagged on the cards, which allows the users to communicate while working on a project.

how to best track time in trello

Jira, on the other hand, takes Trello’s task breakdown features a step ahead. The software uses a mix of Kanban and Scrum to break down tasks, and the robust burn-down charts provide the user with reports of the project progress.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

💡 TL;DR Trello is faster, Jira is provides more features


🔄 Agile Project Management

Trello is a Kanban-based software tool, but it’s not meant for agile teams. Instead, we can take it as general software for project management that doesn’t offer agile solutions like sprint management and scrum boards

On the other hand, Jira is specialized software for teams that need to manage every step of the software development process. Using user story backlog management and Kanban methodology, Jira allows users to easily manage their sprints. These features make Jira a clear winner in terms of agile management.

💡 TL;DR Trello doesn’t support agile management while Jira is tailored specifically for that


⛅ Hosting

A project management software usually has two hosting options: cloud-based or on-premise. To put it simply, cloud-based hosting stores data remotely while on-premise hosting has everything set up in-house.

Trello is cloud-based software, but Jira offers both on-premise and cloud-based hosting. So if flexible hosting is high up on your priority list, Jira is for you.

💡 TL;DR Trello is cloud-based, Jira can be accessed both as on-premise and cloud-based


📃 Reports

Reporting the progress during a project makes the overall project tracking a breeze. Despite being so popular, Trello lacks reporting features. Jira, meanwhile, has a power-packed report generation module that includes a cumulative flow chart, burn-down chart, sprint report, and velocity chart. These charts show team performance at any specific instance, this makes tracking your team’s performance relatively easy. 

You can also sync up Trello and Jira with a time tracker of your choice if you want to set up your Trello or Jira time tracking. You can use Everhour to do that in both tools – along with employee time tracking, attendance tracker, timesheet app, and many more, that you can use right in your project management tool!

💡 TL;DR Trello doesn’t have extensive reporting features, Jira has a range of reporting modules


🤝 Collaboration

Communication is essential when working on a project. A lack thereof can cause several roadblocks, which can lead the project to fail. That’s why almost all project management tools nowadays have collaboration options.

In Trello, you can mention your teammates on a card, get their direct feedback through comments, and come up with better solutions at every step of the process through notifications and messaging options. 

how to best track time in trello

Similarly, Jira also has collaborative file-sharing options, team member task assignments, and messaging between teams. 

the best jira plugins to use for more efficient workflows in 2021

💡 TL;DR Both tools provide communication features sufficient for effective team collaboration


🔁 Integrations

Trello and Jira have opposite integration approaches. Trello doesn’t allow more than three free integrations on its paid version, while with Jira, you can integrate with as many other software programs as you want to. 

This lack of integration in Trello makes its users complain of its functionality limitations. It also makes the software program much pricier, especially if you need to integrate with paid apps. 

💡 TL;DR Trello doesn’t allow many integrations at once while Jira welcomes having as many as you’d like



🔌 Adaptability

When it comes to adaptability, Trello has the edge over Jira. This software is useful for both simple tasks and complex projects that need to be broken down into more convenient chunks. Jira, on the contrary, is a much more specialized software suitable primarily for agile software development teams.

In addition, Trello is simpler to understand and anyone can easily navigate the software without any training involved. For Jira, however, your team may need training, and it usually takes some time for users to get used to the software.

💡 TL;DR Trello is super flexible and adatable while Jira has a more specific purpose


💻 Trello vs Jira Work Management

On Trello, you can use lists, boards, and cards to assign and manage daily tasks. The kanban boards are the primary unit within which you can have lists, and the cards under those lists.

For example, you can make a board of event management, under which you can have lists of decor, invitations, supper, etc. You can assign each list to a team member through a card. 

So comparing Trello vs Jira for home projects is a moot point. Jira belongs to more sophisticated work management, and Trello can be tailored even for personal projects.

That’s why in the Jira work management vs Trello race, Trello is the winner. Its work management is reasonably simple and allows users to customize it according to the project at hand.

Though Jira also has the option of lists and boards, it uses workflow maps to show a project’s progress. Users can customize the workflow maps according to their business needs (you can design the process whichever way you want).

💡 TL;DR When it comes to the management of work, Trello is clearly the winner.


💰 Jira vs Trello Pricing

Both Trello and Jira have four pricing tiers, detailed below:

Trello Price Tiers:

  • Free: The free version costs nothing. Anyone can use it as long as the number of boards utilized remains under 10. That may seem like a problem for big organizations, but small businesses can manage well enough to this limit.
  • Standard: Available for $5 per month per user and the users can avail unlimited boards. 
  • Premium: This version is available for $10 per month per user with features like dashboard view, admin and security features, and much more. 
  • Enterprise: The enterprise tier is priced according to the size and needs of the business. You can get a quote directly from Atlassian’s website if your organization needs a project management tool for more than 100 employees. The estimated quote per user for a 25-member team is $ 17.5 which may vary according to the business needs. 

Jira Price Tiers:

  • Free: Small firms can use Jira’s free version forever if they want to. There’s no subscription fee for using up to 2 GB of storage space. However, the only downside of this version is its cloud-based hosting which may not be an ideal option for all businesses.
  • Standard: At $7 per month, up to 10,000 users can use this Jira alternative and can utilize 250 GB of storage. This tier gives additional benefits of live customer support for the local clients.
  • Premium: At $14 per month, this price tier provides unlimited storage space for 10,000 users simultaneously on one site. In addition to all the standard features, this tier also includes management insights and multiple project automation.
  • Enterprise: The enterprise solutions have customized pricing options that you can get from Atlassian. In addition to all the Premium tier features, this tier offers multi-site connectivity (10,000 users per site), which makes it ideal for organizations with global team members.

Trello vs Jira: A Quick Summary

FeaturesTrelloJira
PricingThree-tier: Free, Business Class ($12.5 per month per user), Enterprise (Get a quote)Free, Standard ($7 per month per user), Premium ($14 per month per user), 
Enterprise (Get a quote)
Basic FeaturesKanban boards, lists, cardsKanban boards, Scrum boards, Jira Sprints
CollaborationMessaging, SMS, push notifications, comments, mentionsTeam task assignment, messaging, file sharing
ReportingNo reportingBurn-down charts and more
IntegrationsNo free integrationsUnlimited Integrations

👍 Advantages

Both Trello and Jira are extensively used software tools with unique advantages and downsides to them. Let’s first have a look at the advantages of both:

Trello

User-friendly
Highly adaptable
Simple pricing plan
Real-time project management

Jira

Agile options
Unlimited integrations
Reporting
Highly customizable across industries

👎 Disadvantages

Trello

No agile option
Limited integrations
Too simple for large organizations

Jira

Takes a bit of time to get used to
Its features and navigation can be too advanced for some users


🙌 Other Alternatives

In addition to Trello and Jira, some more project management tools are proving their worth. So if Trello or Jira doesn’t suit your needs, here are some worthwhile Jira and Trello alternatives:

1. Asana

20 best trello alternatives for project managers in 2022

Asana is a SaaS-based project management tool that provides solutions for managing teams and tasks.

The tool is available in four pricing tiers; basic, which is free for up to 15 users, premium, which charges $10.99 per month per user; business, for $30.99 per month; and enterprise, for customized prices. The software is suitable for individuals as well as businesses. 

2. Monday.com

trello vs jira: the ultimate face-off

Monday.com is a cloud-based project management tool with highly customizable features that make the tasks easier to manage. 

The pricing of the tool has five tiers; Individual available for free for up to two users, basic available for $8 for unlimited users and a 5 GB storage limit, standard for $10 per month for unlimited people and 20 GB storage, pro for $16 per month with 100 GB storage space and enterprise with custom quotes. 

The higher tier options are best suited for large organizations, as the tool is highly customizable and provide a lot of automation options.

3. Basecamp

20 best trello alternatives for project managers in 2022

Basecamp is another option in the project management tools. The software has basic features of file sharing, to-do lists, etc. 

You can use this tool for a flat price of $99 per month for unlimited users. However, the personal version is available for free for 20 users and up to 3 projects. This software is also a good option for medium and large businesses.

4. ClickUp

20 best trello alternatives for project managers in 2022

ClickUp is also a cloud-based project management software, just like Trello. The software offers features like collaboration and communication tools, alerts, and a task management toolbar.

There are five pricing tiers of the tool: free forever, unlimited for $5 per month per user, business $9 per month per user, business plus $19 per month per user, and enterprise at a customized price. Different pricing tiers are suitable for various types of users.

Which Tool Is Right For You?

Both Trello and Jira are exceptional tools, but they are not suitable for every user.

Trello is more suitable for startups and small/mid-sized companies that do not require super-enhanced features such as tracking, reporting, etc. Jira, meanwhile, is more suitable for mid-sized companies to large corporations that require super-detailed requirement tracking, reporting, etc. 

You can choose one of the two based on the hosting type they work on. For a more stable, secure option, you can select the on-premise solution from Jira. On the contrary, to give access to a more scattered team that only requires simple project management functionality, you can work with the cloud-based hosting of Trello.

If you are specifically working in the agile software development field, Jira is your best bet. However, if your team doesn’t require industry-specific customizations, Trello is a much more practical choice.

All in all, both software programs are highly flexible and provide excellent support to the users. The critical difference remains in their functionality, with Jira emerging as the winner since it has much more options than Trello.

The post Jira vs Trello: Finding Your Perfect Project Management Match appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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How To Use Jira: 2024 Complete Hands-on Guide https://everhour.com/blog/how-to-use-jira/ Thu, 16 May 2024 19:52:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=13160 At this point, everyone seems to know that “Jira project management tool” and “an absolute powerhouse” are synonyms. If you’re new to the club, it can seem daunting. But, don’t be afraid, instead, join us and discover how to use Jira right! Keep reading to learn: ✅ What is Jira and who is it for✅ […]

The post How To Use Jira: 2024 Complete Hands-on Guide appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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At this point, everyone seems to know that “Jira project management tool” and “an absolute powerhouse” are synonyms. If you’re new to the club, it can seem daunting. But, don’t be afraid, instead, join us and discover how to use Jira right! Keep reading to learn:

✅ What is Jira and who is it for
✅ Why you should choose Jira service for your business
✅ Main features of Jira
✅ Why time tracking is important in Jira & how to do it

What is Jira?

Jira is widely used by IT specialists, although other types of businesses can also engage the software. In fact, over 50% of Jira’s customers use the software for non-IT projects! 

According to Atlassian, 83% of Fortune 500 companies use Jira for their project management needs.

Here are only some of this tool’s main functionalities, listed according to job roles within a company:

  • Project managers: Jira is equipped to take on project management requirements, including task management, workflow estimation, logging and customization, project reports creation, project analytics, assigning user permissions, notifications by emails, and much more.
  • Software engineers: Jira is perfect for the issue and backlog tracking, release planning, CI/CD and developer tools integrations, etc.
  • Software testers: from tracking bugs to setting tasks, Jira offers issue prioritization, and more to allow software testers to iron out issues in software products.
  • Product managers. An all-rounder, Jira allows product managers to complete product road mapping, establish map dependencies, share roadmaps, and more.

Jira for Personal Use and Small Teams

Jira is an efficient solution for individuals and small teams. The Free plan is for small teams of fewer than 10 people who are just getting started with Jira. With the Free plan you get:

  • Up to 10 users (or 3 agents for Jira Service Desk)
  • 2 GB of file storage
  • Atlassian Community support

There are some limitations to the following features when you use Free plans for Jira Cloud products:

  • Permissions, roles, and issue-level security
  • Audit logs
  • Email notifications
  • Apps that extend Jira Cloud

If all of your Jira Cloud products are on the Free plan, those products will be deactivated after 120 days of inactivity (if this concerns you, you can learn more about deactivating inactive products and other limitations in Free plans).

If you have a startup or a small business, it’s worth considering Jira as a project management tool. Jira is an effective solution, especially if you add plugins to boost your small enterprises.

For example, Everhour’s Jira time tracker can help you invoice, budget, and manage cost and time.

How to track time in Jira with Everhour Integration

If you decide to track time inside Jira, Everhour is a perfect third-party option. On top of time tracking, it can take care of your project management, reporting, invoicing, and other needs. Here’s how you can track time in Jira via Everhour:

  1. If you don’t have your Everhour account, you need to get signed up. There are three pricing plans, including a Free one, so pick the one you like the most and register your account. You can also use your Google account or your work email address to do that.
  2. After that, go to Settings and pick the Integrations tab. Jira will be there among other integrations. Click on it and choose the version you have. This tutorial explains how to track time with the Cloud version, but you can also find the server version tutorial here.
  3. In the Installation section, click the hyperlink to the Everhour app in the Atlassian marketplace. You will be redirected to the Everhour plug-in where you will see a yellow “Get it Now” button on the upper right side of the page. Click that to install Everhour to your team’s Jira workspace and confirm getting it again.
  4. Choose which website you want to install the app on and click Install App. Keep in mind that you need to be an administrator in your Jira account to be able to proceed.
track your time like a pro with jira time tracking
  1. If you do have an Everhour account, go to your Jira dashboard, click the Apps at the bar on top, and choose Find New Apps in a dropdown menu. From there, find Everhour, click the yellow Get App button and confirm getting it.
  2. After that, you’ll get the notification of a successful installation and authorize it to be able to track your time inside it.

Free and Lightweight Timer Add-on for Jira

💰 Pricing: Free
🔨 How to install: Install the Free Jira timer plugin from the Atlassian Marketplace and start tracking time

This add-on offers several advantages:

  • Easily manage and monitor time directly from the issue details modal.
  • Intuitive controls make time tracking accessible to all team members, regardless of their familiarity with time tracking tools.
  • The Time tab organizes entries in a well-structured table, allowing you to quickly review and analyze past entries.
  • Whether you prefer timers or manual entry, our add-on adapts to your workflow, providing a lightweight and adaptable solution.

Jira Cloud vs On-Premise Comparison

Before committing to Jira you should decide what’s better for your enterprise: a cloud or an on-premise option. Both solutions have pros and cons, depending on your business needs. Let’s have a look at their main differences.

When to choose Jira server?

  • When you want to control your data and build your own server infrastructure.
  • If your enterprise needs to isolate your data within your region, preventing data storing in other countries, etc.
  • If you want to take control of software updates or system upgrading. (JIRA server gets features about 3–10 months behind JIRA cloud).
  • If you would like to be able to add an unlimited quantity of users.
  • If you are running a large-sized business with the functionality that requires customization.

When to choose Jira cloud?

  • When you want your Jira updates automated or any server problems solved by Jira’s in-house team.
  • If you want to focus more on processes rather than service administration.
  • If you intend to use Jira for a small or medium-sized business.
  • If you would like to have access to a freemium plan for up to 10 people in your team and a maximum of 5,000 users in total for paid tires.

Jira pricing – cloud vs on-premises

The Jira cost level for your business also depends on whether you use a cloud or on-premise software type. Here’s the current price breakdown (correct as of June 2020):

Jira on-premise: offers a 30-day trial and two tiers. The Server tier starts from $10 per 10 users, while The Data Center offers a yearly license for $20,400 with 500 users. Both solutions offer full environment control and the main difference is that The Data Center tier offers considerable support with disaster recovery features and rolling out on Azure or Amazon web services.

Jira for cloud: has 3 tiers – Free, Standard, and Premium. Premium offers full-pack functionality for extensive project management for $14 per user/month. The Free tier is free of charge for up to 10 users suited best for small business project management. 


Jira Basics: Understanding The Hierarchy

Here is a brief description of the main Jira functions you’ll need to be acquainted with to start your Jira journey. 

When you enter Jira, the first thing you encounter is a Project. You should create it by choosing a type – classic or next-gen (scroll down to learn more about these project types). 

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

Once created, all your projects are located in the “My Work” tab. You can find it in the top bar. By the way, the top bar also contains:

  1. My Work including all your active projects
  2. Projects that you can view or create
  3. Filters to conveniently sort your data 
  4. Dashboards you can customize to view your stats on projects quickly
  5. People where you can view your team
  6. Apps that you can integrate into your Jira for extra features
  7. A Create button to generate issues. 

After you create and enter your first project, you’ll see a key navigating project features on the sidebar. There you’ll find:

  • Access to project stats and summary
  • The possibility to view your work boards that show project workflows
  • Reports, components, and other essential features

These help you manage your projects and estimate the outcomes. Let’s break them down below:

What is Jira project

A Jira project is a collection of issues (tasks). Your team could use a Jira project to coordinate the development of a product, track a project, manage a help desk, and more, depending on your requirements. A Jira project can also be configured and customized to suit the needs of you and your team.

Jira project templates

In Jira, project templates allow you to quickly create Jira projects with a predefined set of project configuration settings and properties. Jira comes with several built-in project templates, but you can create your own.

Jira boards

A Board is an intuitive representation of a project, which can include one or more projects, depending on the filter configuration of the board, including the Kanban board and Scrum board options.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

The configuration of the project determines which issue types, screen and field, notification, and so on are included. The board configuration determines how you manage your projects, such as Scrum.

Jira workflow

Remember those Jira projects we just talked about? Well, they contain issues that your team can work on and transition through stages of work. The path that your issues take is called a workflow. Each Jira workflow is composed of a set of statuses and transitions that your issue moves through during its lifecycle, and typically represents work processes within your organization.  

Jira has built-in workflows that you can use without needing to make any changes, or you can start fresh and create your own. You can’t edit the built-in workflows, or you can copy them and use the copy as a basis to create your own. 

Jira issue

Issues are the building blocks of any Jira project. An issue could represent a story, a bug, a task, or another issue type in your project. Different organizations use Jira to track different kinds of issues. It can range from representing a single unit of work, like a simple task, to a larger parent work item to be tracked, like a story or an epic.

Jira issue types

There are five main issue types in Jira. You can find an excellent explanation here – and below is a quick breakdown:

  • Epic – These are your main buckets of work. They can be long-lived workstreams like Prod Bugs or releasable projects. The former doesn’t have a fix version (release), the latter does.
  • Story – A capability. Keep the summary name short and concise. Put the “As a user, I want to X, so I can Y” in the description. Stories are a “deliverable”, part of your software product, and should be releasable. They should have a fix version assigned. Stories also get points.
  • Sub-Tasks – Subtasks break down a deliverable like a Story into tasks. Sub-tasks should not have points. (Jira does not expect this and the points in your standard Jira reports will be over-stated if your project is configured to allow sub-tasks to have points and people use that field). Pure Scrum process recommends estimating sub-tasks in hours. 
  • Tasks – Remember, Tasks are Tasks and not Stories. They are also not sub-tasks, however, they can have sub-tasks. Tasks also get points. Good examples of tasks are creating documents, operational tasks, and other work activities. Tasks should be backlog items and related to a project or product. Only product-related work should be tracked in Jira.
  • Bugs – Bugs are Bugs and not Stories or Tasks. Bugs should get points, and have an affected version/s and a fix version/s. There should also be some way of denoting production bugs vs. pre-production. 

Jira components

Components are useful for the technical team as they can span across many epics. A typical component might be ‘database’ or ‘UI’. JIRA offers the option to assign work for a particular component to a particular JIRA user.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

For example, all issues created with a component of ‘database’ could be assigned to John Smith. Using components, you can generate reports, collect statistics, display them on dashboards, etc. Below are a few components examples:

  • Android or iOS app
  • API
  • Database

Jira labels

Labels in Jira are tags or keywords that you can add to issues to show whether they possess certain characteristics. They let you classify issues more flexibly and more informally than by assigning version numbers or components.

They are much more adaptable and have the advantage of allowing multiple assignments. With labels, it is very much up to you how you use them. Here are just a few examples:

  • Business logic
  • Design
  • Usability
  • User request
  • Etc.

Jira versions

Versions are another type of container that reflect product or project versions. These are particularly useful in software development. It helps your team define which version of the project they are working on.

Jira backlog

The Jira Backlog is a list of tasks that represents work that is outstanding (uncompleted) in a project. Usually, a project would have issues in the backlog, and you can add these issues to a Jira sprint so your team can work on them. Backlogs help organize sprints, systematize their stories, create product versions, and much more. 


Jira Key Points & Getting Started Advice 

Once you’ve signed up for Jira and logged in, the tips and advice below will get you up to speed! Some facts and ideas to keep in mind are :

You should have a process, Jira will not invent one for you

All workflows in Jira are customizable. You can adjust them for tasks, subtasks, and projects. This approach enables you to create tasks or projects with specific characteristics and track their progress. Moreover, you can create your own workflows or use apps for their customization from the Atlassian Marketplace.

But make sure your organization agrees on some working standards: generally people want to work their own way without thinking about the bigger picture. Remember, results come from hundreds of unmanageable workflows. You need a superstar project manager to bring it all together.

Give Admin rights only to people that know what they are doing

Jira is very granular on permissions. You can establish the rules for different team members on commenting, task assigning, task editing and task changing, project viewing, and much more. This feature is especially valuable when you don’t want to show the most sensitive information to outsourcing companies or temporary contractors. 

Keep the number of required fields minimal to create a task

Our brain’s tricky. It always searches for ways to cut corners. So, if you initially set a long list of required fields to fill out to create one task, then team members will tend to skip the procedure to make the work go faster. 

To avoid this issue, set the most important fields for task creation. And add more requirements later and only when absolutely required. This way, you’ll be sure that nobody dodges task creation, and the result has a high quality.

Learn JQL for quick filtering and boosting work processes

Jira Query Language (JQL) is an effective helper for quick filtering. Engineers use JQL for advanced search in Jira to view the needed info sorted by dates, statuses, assignees, versions, issues, etc. 

JQL resembles SQL language, and if you know the latter, it won’t be a problem for you to learn the former. JQL reduces the number of clicks and saves time when searching for data in Jira. Moreover, you can save searches for future viewing.

Customize your issue detail view onboard cards

Using board configuration, you can change or add issue details to view on your board cards. With additional fields, you can add the essential information you need to see on your cards. Moreover, you can change the card details from project to project. 

Create one board for multiple projects

You can configure one board to view the info from various projects. For this, you need to use filters to pull together all project issues on the board. After that, you can use swimlane filters to organize the data.

This trick helps you gather the needed info to project managers and stakeholders. 

Safe click with keyboard shortcuts

To view keyboard shortcuts, you need to go to the “Help” button. Hint! It’s the question mark in the top bar. You’ll find it in the right upper corner. Now select “Keyboard shortcuts.”

Learn from the Jira community

Sometimes the best way to solve the problem is to ask your peers. The Atlassian Community is a pool of Jira users that face Jira issues daily and discuss them on the Atlassian forums. 

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

Besides that, you can visit virtual events and seminars on specific topics set by Atlassian Community. And even enroll in an Atlassian offline annual Summit.

Note: in 2020, Atlassian shifted the Summit online due to the coronavirus situation.


Jira – Other Features

Now that we know some of Jira’s best tricks, let’s get to grips with a few of its other features.

Jira dashboards

Your dashboard is the main display you see when you log in to Jira. You can create multiple dashboards from different projects or multiple dashboards for one massive overview of all the work you’re involved with. You can create a personal dashboard and add gadgets to keep track of assignments and issues you’re working on. Dashboards are designed to display gadgets that help you organize your projects, assignments, and achievements in different charts.

Jira reports

Jira delivers relevant information in a convenient format called reports. There are numerous reports available in Jira, which enables you to gain visibility of the situation. In addition, these reports offer project statistics throughout the entire lifecycle. For example, the Burndown chart displays the actual as well as the estimated amount of work to be finished in the sprint. Their reporting framework is also extendible. This means there are add-ons that you can install to add additional reports from the Atlassian Marketplace.

Jira add ons

As the Jira is equipped with flexible Java APIs & REST, you can easily extend its power and make it function in line with your business terms. Moreover, the 800+ Jira add ons & plugins available in the Atlassian Marketplace allow you to control everything about a product. 

The popular add-ons for Jira are Gantt charts (WBS Gantt Charts for Jira, BigGantt, and BigPicture), time tracking (Tempo vs Everhour), and tools to help with script and coding (ScriptRunner for Jira, Automation for Jira, etc.).

No matter what you’re looking for, there’s pretty much a Jira add-on for you out there in the Marketplace.


Jira Wrap Up 

We, at Everhour, hope that this article made Jira a bit clearer for you! Jira may be a complex service, but it has a lot to offer. With tools for SMEs and large enterprises, Jira is a diverse service that suits many needs. More and more, we’re seeing helpful add-ons that make it even better.

If you’re just starting your business, Jira provides a generous offer for newcomers in the form of a freemium for 10 people and wide project management functionality. Moreover, most of the configuring features were facilitated by default settings or by adds-on from the Atlassian Marketplace.

We’re excited to see what new features will be added for Jira next to make our working lives even easier. But in the meantime, if you need a solid Jira time tracking plugin, get in touch with us at Everhour! Wishing you happy project managing from all our team!

The post How To Use Jira: 2024 Complete Hands-on Guide appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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Integrate Jira with GitHub: Collaboration & Project Management 101 https://everhour.com/blog/integrate-github-and-jira/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 21:40:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=31039 Effective project management and seamless collaboration are vital components of successful software development. Integrating tools that streamline workflows and foster efficient communication has become essential in this digital age. One powerful combination that achieves these objectives is the GitHub/Jira integration. GitHub, renowned for its version control capabilities and code repository management, can be seamlessly integrated […]

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Effective project management and seamless collaboration are vital components of successful software development. Integrating tools that streamline workflows and foster efficient communication has become essential in this digital age. One powerful combination that achieves these objectives is the GitHub/Jira integration. GitHub, renowned for its version control capabilities and code repository management, can be seamlessly integrated with Jira, a robust project management tool for issue tracking and agile development. 

By using a GitHub integration with Jira, development teams can unlock a range of benefits, including real-time issue tracking, enhanced collaboration, and a streamlined development workflow. In this article, we will explore the intricacies of how to integrate Jira with GitHub, providing insights into the setup process, key features, and the significant advantages it brings to software development teams.

What You Need to Connect Jira to GitHub

Before diving into the integration process, it’s important to gather a few essential components. To successfully integrate Jira and GitHub, here’s what you’ll need:

1️⃣ GitHub account:

Ensure that you have an active GitHub account. If you don’t have one, sign up for free at github.com. Having a GitHub account will enable you to host your repositories and manage your codebase efficiently.

2️⃣ Jira account:

Obtain access to a Jira account. If you or your team doesn’t have one yet, sign up for Jira Cloud or set up a Jira Server instance, depending on your needs. Jira serves as the project management hub, allowing you to track issues, manage tasks, and organize your development projects effectively.

3️⃣ Repository in GitHub:

Identify the specific repository within GitHub that you want to integrate with Jira. This repository should contain the codebase or project you’re working on. If you don’t have it yet, create a repository in GitHub and populate it with your code or project files.

4️⃣ Jira project:

Set up a Jira project that corresponds to the GitHub repository. In Jira, a project represents the container for all your tasks, issues, and work items related to a specific development project. Create a new project or select an existing one that aligns with your GitHub repository.

5️⃣ Administrator access:

Ensure you have administrative access or the necessary permissions in both GitHub and Jira to configure the integration settings. Administrator privileges will allow you to set up the required configurations and manage the integration effectively.

6️⃣ Integration plugin/Addon:

Check for the availability of Jira integration plugins or add-ons. Depending on your chosen platform (Jira Cloud or Jira Server), different plugins or add-ons may be available to facilitate the integration. Look for trusted and compatible plugins that offer seamless integration between GitHub and Jira.

With these key components in place, you’ll be well-prepared to proceed with the integration process and harness the power of combining GitHub and Jira for efficient project management and collaboration.


Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!


How to Install the GitHub Jira Integration

To integrate GitHub and Jira seamlessly, you’ll need to install the necessary integration plugin or add-on. Follow these steps to install the GitHub Jira integration:

3.1 Preparing GitHub and Jira:

Before you can integrate GitHub and Jira, it’s essential to configure your GitHub and Jira accounts and ensure they are ready for integration. Follow these step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: GitHub account preparation:

  • If you don’t have a GitHub account, sign up for free at github.com.
  • Create or identify the repository in GitHub that you want to integrate with Jira.
  • Ensure you have the necessary permissions to manage the repository and configure integrations.

Step 2: Jira account preparation:

  • If you don’t have a Jira account, sign up for Jira Cloud or set up a Jira Server instance, depending on your requirements.
  • Create or select a Jira project that aligns with the GitHub repository you want to integrate.
  • Ensure you have administrative access or the required permissions to configure integrations in Jira.

3.2 Configuring the Integration:

Once you have prepared your GitHub and Jira accounts, follow these steps to configure the integration between the two platforms:

Step 1: Authentication:

  • In Jira, navigate to the integration plugin or add-on that facilitates the GitHub integration. This is typically found in the “Apps” or “Add-ons” section of the Jira Administration panel.
  • Follow the plugin’s instructions to authenticate your GitHub account. This typically involves providing your GitHub credentials or generating an access token.
integrate jira with github: streamline collaboration & project management

Step 2: Linking repositories:

  • Within the integration plugin settings, locate the option to link or connect repositories.
  • Specify the GitHub repository you want to integrate with your Jira project.
  • Configure any additional settings related to repository synchronization, such as the frequency of updates or the direction of synchronization.

Step 3: Mapping issue types:

  • In the integration plugin settings, find the option for issue type mapping.
  • Define how Jira issue types should be mapped to GitHub issues or vice versa. For example, you can map a Jira “Bug” issue type to a GitHub “Bug” issue type.
  • Ensure that the mapping aligns with your project’s requirements and reflects the desired synchronization of issue types between the platforms.

Step 4: Additional configuration:

  • Depending on the integration plugin or add-on, there may be additional configuration options available. Explore these settings to customize the integration based on your project’s needs.
  • Consider configuring other features such as smart commits, branch synchronization, or pull request linking, if supported by the integration plugin.

Step 5: Testing the integration:

  • Once the configuration is complete, create test issues or make changes in both Jira and GitHub to verify that the synchronization is working as expected.
  • Check if updates in one platform are reflected in the other, ensuring that the integration is properly set up and functioning seamlessly.

By following these steps, you can configure the integration between GitHub and Jira, ensuring that both platforms are ready to synchronize data and collaborate efficiently.

Leveraging Integration Features

4.1 Issue and branch synchronization

One of the key advantages of integrating GitHub and Jira is the automatic synchronization of issues and branches between the two platforms. Any changes made to issues or branches in GitHub or Jira are seamlessly reflected in both systems, ensuring consistency and eliminating the need for manual updates.

When an issue is created or updated in Jira, the corresponding issue is created or updated in the linked GitHub repository, and vice versa. This bidirectional synchronization allows teams to track and manage issues in their preferred platform while keeping everyone informed about the progress and status of the project. Developers can view and update issues in Jira, while seeing those changes reflected in the GitHub repository, making it easier to stay aligned and collaborate effectively.

Similarly, when branches are created or modified in GitHub, Jira automatically updates the linked issue with the branch information. This synchronization streamlines the development workflow by providing visibility into the branches associated with specific issues, making it easier to manage and track code changes within the context of the project.

4.2 Smart commits

Smart commits offer a powerful feature that allows developers to update Jira issues directly from their GitHub commit messages. By embedding special commands in the commit messages, developers can trigger actions within Jira without leaving their code editor.

For example, by including a smart commit command like “JIRA-123 #comment Fixed a critical bug,” developers can add comments to Jira issues, link commits to specific issues, transition issues to different workflow statuses or log time spent on an issue. These smart commits provide a seamless way to track and reference the progress and changes made in the codebase while keeping the associated Jira issues up to date.

Smart commits streamline the development process by eliminating the need to switch between GitHub and Jira interfaces, allowing developers to focus on their code while providing relevant updates to the project management side.

4.3 Agile boards and development workflows

The integration of GitHub and Jira empowers teams to leverage Jira’s agile boards for enhanced project planning, task management, and progress monitoring. Jira’s agile boards, such as Scrum or Kanban boards, can be created and customized to align with the development workflow and team preferences.

By linking GitHub repositories to Jira projects, teams can visualize their development tasks and issues on the agile boards, allowing for better planning, prioritization, and tracking of work. Development activities, including issues, branches, and pull requests, can be represented as cards on the agile board, providing a comprehensive overview of the project’s progress.

Teams can easily drag and drop cards across different columns representing various workflow statuses, ensuring transparency and a clear understanding of the current state of each task. This integration enables seamless collaboration between developers, project managers, and stakeholders, fostering efficient task management and accelerating the development lifecycle.

By utilizing Jira’s agile boards and integrating them with GitHub, teams can optimize their development workflows, improve visibility into project status, and ensure that everyone is aligned on the progress and priorities of the software development project.

Conclusion 

As mentioned above, integrating GitHub and Jira brings numerous benefits to software development teams. Teams can experience the power of bidirectional synchronization, ensuring that changes made to issues or branches in one platform are automatically reflected in the other. This synchronization fosters consistency, improves visibility, and enables teams to track and manage their development tasks seamlessly.

In conclusion, integrating GitHub and Jira empowers software development teams to work seamlessly across both platforms. By following the steps outlined here, you can harness the power of this integration and optimize your development processes. Consequently, this can lead to enhanced productivity, improved collaboration, and successful project outcomes.

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Comment Utiliser Jira – Guide Pratique Complet 2024 https://everhour.com/blog/fr/comment-utiliser-jira-guide-pratique-complet-2023/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 18:55:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=30563 Jira est un outil de gestion de projet absolument puissant. Si vous êtes nouveau dans le club, cela peut sembler intimidant. Mais n’ayez pas peur, rejoignez-nous et découvrez comment utiliser Jira correctement! Continuez à lire pour apprendre: ✅ Qu’est-ce que Jira et à qui s’adresse-t-il✅ Pourquoi choisir le service Jira pour votre entreprise✅ Principales fonctionnalités […]

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Jira est un outil de gestion de projet absolument puissant. Si vous êtes nouveau dans le club, cela peut sembler intimidant. Mais n’ayez pas peur, rejoignez-nous et découvrez comment utiliser Jira correctement!

Continuez à lire pour apprendre:

✅ Qu’est-ce que Jira et à qui s’adresse-t-il
✅ Pourquoi choisir le service Jira pour votre entreprise
✅ Principales fonctionnalités de Jira
✅ Pourquoi le suivi du temps est important dans Jira et comment utiliser Jira

Qu’Est-Ce Que Jira?

Jira est largement utilisé par les informaticiens, bien que d’autres types d’entreprises puissent également utiliser le logiciel. En fait, plus de 50% des clients de Jira utilisent le logiciel pour des projets non informatiques!

Selon Atlassian, 83% des entreprises du Fortune 500 utilisent Jira pour leurs besoins en gestion de projet.

Voici quelques-unes des principales fonctionnalités de cet outil, répertoriées selon les rôles au sein d’une entreprise:

  • Chefs de projet: Jira est équipé pour répondre aux exigences de gestion de projet, y compris la gestion des tâches, l’estimation du flux de travail, la journalisation et la personnalisation, la création de rapports de projet, l’analyse de projet, l’attribution d’autorisations utilisateur, les notifications par e-mail, et bien plus encore.
  • Ingénieurs logiciels: Jira est parfait pour le suivi des problèmes et du backlog, la planification des versions, les intégrations d’outils CI/CD et de développement, etc.
  • Testeurs de logiciels: du suivi des bugs à la définition des tâches, Jira propose une hiérarchisation des problèmes, et bien plus encore, pour permettre aux testeurs de logiciels de résoudre les problèmes des produits logiciels.
  • Chefs de produit: polyvalent, Jira permet aux chefs de produit de compléter la cartographie des produits, d’établir des dépendances cartographiques, de partager des feuilles de route, etc.

Jira Pour un Usage Personnel et de Petites Équipes

Jira est une solution efficace pour les individus et les petites équipes. Le plan gratuit est destiné aux petites équipes de moins de 10 personnes qui débutent avec Jira. Avec le forfait gratuit, vous obtenez:

  • Jusqu’à 10 utilisateurs (ou 3 agents pour Jira Service Desk)
  • 2 GB de stockage de fichiers
  • Assistance de la communauté Atlassian

Il existe certaines limitations aux fonctionnalités suivantes lorsque vous utilisez des forfaits gratuits pour les produits Jira Cloud:

  • Autorisations, rôles et sécurité au niveau des problèmes
  • Journaux d’audit
  • Notifications par email
  • Applications qui étendent Jira Cloud

Si tous vos produits Jira Cloud sont sur le forfait gratuit, ces produits seront désactivés après 120 jours d’inactivité (si cela vous concerne, vous pouvez en savoir plus sur la désactivation des produits inactifs et d’autres limitations dans les forfaits gratuits).

Si vous avez une startup ou une petite entreprise, cela vaut la peine de considérer Jira comme un outil de gestion de projet. Jira est une solution efficace, surtout si vous ajoutez des plugins pour booster vos petites entreprises.

Par exemple, le suivi du temps Jira d’Everhour peut vous aider à facturer, budgétiser et gérer les coûts et le temps.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

J’ai eu une excellente expérience avec Everhour jusqu’à présent! L’intégration de Jira est l’une des raisons pour lesquelles j’ai choisi Everhour, et je suis impressionné par son bon fonctionnement. D’une part, il est facile d’ajouter un projet et de gérer son budget depuis Everhour. D’autre part, il est également facile d’aller dans Jira et d’enregistrer le travail pour une tâche! Honnêtement, je ne peux pas penser à quoi que ce soit que je voudrais changer, c’est tout simplement génial. Je suis très content d’avoir trouvé ce produit. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ par Erik Brown


Everhour est le choix numéro un pour les petites entreprises et les équipes de petite à moyenne taille de 5 à 50 membres, comprenant des professionnels tels que les développeurs de logiciels, les spécialistes du marketing, les designers, les consultants, les avocats, et bien d’autres encore!

En s’intégrant parfaitement avec des outils de gestion de projet populaires tels que Asana, Trello et Jira, son interface conviviale et ses rapports personnalisables en font la solution ultime de suivi du temps pour les petites et moyennes équipes.

Avec un support dédié garantissant une assistance rapide, notre équipe est là pour vous aider avec le sourire!


Comment suivre le temps dans Jira avec Everhour

Si vous décidez de suivre le temps dans Jira, Everhour est une option tierce parfaite. En plus du suivi du temps, il peut prendre en charge la gestion de votre projet, les rapports, la facturation et d’autres besoins. Voici comment vous pouvez suivre le temps dans Jira via Everhour :

  1. Si vous n’avez pas votre compte Everhour, vous devez vous inscrire. Il existe trois plans tarifaires, dont un gratuit, alors choisissez celui que vous aimez le plus et enregistrez votre compte. Vous pouvez également utiliser votre compte Google ou votre adresse e-mail professionnelle pour le faire.
  2. Après cela, allez dans Paramètres et choisissez l’onglet Intégrations. Jira sera là parmi d’autres intégrations. Cliquez dessus et choisissez la version que vous avez. Ce tutoriel explique comment suivre le temps avec la version Cloud, mais vous pouvez également trouver le tutoriel de la version serveur ici.
  3. Dans la section Installation, cliquez sur le lien hypertexte vers l’application Everhour sur la place de marché Atlassian. Vous serez redirigé vers le plug-in Everhour où vous verrez un bouton jaune “Obtenir maintenant” (“Get it Now”) en haut à droite de la page. Cliquez dessus pour installer Everhour dans l’espace de travail Jira de votre équipe et confirmez sa réinstallation.
  4. Choisissez le site Web sur lequel vous souhaitez installer l’application et cliquez sur Installer l’application. Gardez à l’esprit que vous devez être administrateur de votre compte Jira pour pouvoir continuer.
track your time like a pro with jira time tracking
  1. Si vous avez un compte Everhour, accédez à votre tableau de bord Jira, cliquez sur les applications dans la barre en haut et choisissez Rechercher de nouvelles applications dans un menu déroulant. À partir de là, recherchez Everhour, cliquez sur le bouton jaune Obtenir l’application et confirmez l’avoir.
  2. Après cela, vous recevrez la notification d’une installation réussie et l’autoriserez à suivre votre temps à l’intérieur.

Comparaison Entre Jira Cloud et Sur Site

Avant de vous engager dans Jira, vous devez décider de ce qui convient le mieux à votre entreprise: une option cloud ou sur site. Les deux solutions ont des avantages et des inconvénients, selon les besoins de votre entreprise. Voyons ensemble leurs principales différences.

Quand choisir les serveurs Jira?

  • Lorsque vous souhaitez contrôler vos données et créer votre propre infrastructure de serveurs.
  • Si votre entreprise a besoin d’isoler vos données dans votre région, d’empêcher le stockage des données dans d’autres pays, etc.
  • Si vous souhaitez prendre le contrôle des mises à jour logicielles ou de la mise à niveau du système. (Le serveur JIRA obtient des fonctionnalités avec environ 3 à 10 mois de retard sur le cloud JIRA).
  • Si vous souhaitez pouvoir ajouter un nombre illimité d’utilisateurs.
  • Si vous dirigez une grande entreprise avec des fonctionnalités nécessitant une personnalisation.

Quand choisir le cloud Jira?

  • Lorsque vous souhaitez que vos mises à jour Jira soient automatisées ou que tout problème de serveur soit résolu par l’équipe interne de Jira.
  • Si vous souhaitez vous concentrer davantage sur les processus plutôt que sur l’administration des services.
  • Si vous avez l’intention d’utiliser Jira pour une petite ou moyenne entreprise.
  • Si vous souhaitez avoir accès à un plan freemium jusqu’à 10 personnes dans votre équipe et un maximum de 5 000 utilisateurs au total pour les pneus payants.

Tarification Jira – cloud vs sur site

Le niveau de coût de Jira pour votre entreprise dépend également de si vous utilisez un type de logiciel cloud ou sur site. Voici la répartition actuelle des prix (correcte en juin 2020):

Jira sur site: offre un essai de 30 jours et deux niveaux. Le niveau Serveur commence à partir de $10 pour 10 utilisateurs, tandis que le Data Center propose une licence annuelle de $20,400 avec 500 utilisateurs. Les deux solutions offrent un contrôle complet de l’environnement et la principale différence est que le niveau Data Center offre un support considérable avec des fonctionnalités de reprise après sinistre et un déploiement sur les services Web Azure ou Amazon.

Jira sur cloud: a 3 niveaux – Gratuit, Standard et Premium. Premium offre des fonctionnalités complètes pour une gestion de projet étendue pour $14 par utilisateur/mois. Alors que le niveau gratuit est gratuit pour un maximum de 10 utilisateurs, il convient le mieux à la gestion de projets de petites entreprises.


Principes de Base de Jira: Comprendre la Hiérarchie

Voici une brève description des principales fonctions de Jira que vous devrez connaître pour commencer votre parcours Jira.

Lorsque vous entrez dans Jira, la première chose que vous rencontrez est un Projet. Vous devez le créer en choisissant un type – classique ou nouvelle génération (faites défiler vers le bas pour en savoir plus sur ces types de projets).

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

Une fois créés, tous vos projets se trouvent dans l’onglet “Mon travail” (“My Work”). Vous pouvez le trouver dans la barre supérieure. Au fait, la barre supérieure contient également:

  1. Mon travail incluant tous vos projets actifs
  2. Projets que vous pouvez afficher ou créer
  3. Filtres pour trier facilement vos données
  4. Des tableaux de bord que vous pouvez personnaliser pour afficher rapidement vos statistiques sur les projets
  5. Personnes où vous pouvez voir votre équipe
  6. Des applications que vous pouvez intégrer à votre Jira pour des fonctionnalités supplémentaires
  7. Un bouton Créer pour générer des problèmes.

Après avoir créé et entré votre premier projet, vous verrez une clé de navigation dans les fonctionnalités du projet sur la barre latérale. Vous y trouverez:

  • Accès aux statistiques et résumé du projet
  • La possibilité de visualiser vos tableaux de travail qui montrent les flux de travail du projet
  • Rapports, composants et autres fonctionnalités essentielles

Ceux-ci vous aident à gérer vos projets et à estimer les résultats. Décomposons-les ci-dessous :

Qu’est-ce qu’un projet Jira

Un projet Jira est un ensemble de tickets (tâches). Votre équipe peut utiliser un projet Jira pour coordonner le développement d’un produit, suivre un projet, gérer un service d’assistance, etc., selon vos besoins. Un projet Jira peut également être configuré et personnalisé pour répondre à vos besoins et à ceux de votre équipe.

Modèles de projet Jira

Dans Jira, les modèles de projet vous permettent de créer rapidement des projets Jira avec un ensemble prédéfini de paramètres et de propriétés de configuration de projet. Jira est livré avec plusieurs modèles de projet intégrés, mais vous pouvez créer le vôtre.

Tableaux de Jira

Un Tableau (Board) est une représentation intuitive d’un projet, qui peut inclure un ou plusieurs projets, selon la configuration du filtre du tableau, y compris les options tableau kanban et tableau Scrum.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

La configuration du projet détermine les types de problème, l’écran et le champ, la notification, etc. qui sont inclus. La configuration du tableau détermine la façon dont vous gérez vos projets, comme Scrum.

Flux de travail Jira

Vous vous souvenez de ces projets Jira dont nous venons de parler? Eh bien, ils contiennent des problèmes sur lesquels votre équipe peut travailler et passer par des étapes de travail. Le chemin emprunté par vos problèmes s’appelle un flux de travail. Chaque workflow Jira est composé d’un ensemble de statuts et de transitions que votre problème traverse au cours de son cycle de vie et représente généralement les processus de travail au sein de votre organisation.

Jira dispose de workflows intégrés que vous pouvez utiliser sans avoir à apporter de modifications, ou vous pouvez recommencer à zéro et créer les vôtres. Vous ne pouvez pas modifier les flux de travail intégrés, ou vous pouvez les copier et utiliser la copie comme base pour créer les vôtres.

Problème dans Jira

Les problèmes sont les éléments constitutifs de tout projet Jira. Un problème peut représenter une histoire, un bogue, une tâche ou un autre type de problème dans votre projet. Différentes organisations utilisent Jira pour suivre différents types de problèmes. Cela peut aller de la représentation d’une seule unité de travail, comme une tâche simple, à un élément de travail parent plus important à suivre, comme une histoire ou une épopée.

Types de problèmes dans Jira

Il existe cinq principaux types de problèmes dans Jira. Vous pouvez trouver une excellente explication ici – et ci-dessous est une ventilation rapide:

  • Epic – Ce sont vos principaux seaux de travail. Il peut s’agir de flux de travail de longue durée, tels que des bugs de production ou des projets publiables. Le premier n’a pas de version fixe (release), le second en a.
  • Histoire – Une capacité. Gardez le nom du résumé court et concis. Mettez le “En tant qu’utilisateur, je veux X, donc je peux Y” dans la description. Les histoires sont un “livrable”, une partie de votre produit logiciel, et doivent être publiables. Une version fixe doit leur être attribuée. Les histoires obtiennent également des points.
  • Sous-tâches – Les sous-tâches décomposent un livrable comme une histoire en tâches. Les sous-tâches ne doivent pas avoir de points. (Jira ne s’attend pas à cela et les points de vos rapports standard seront surestimés si votre projet est configuré pour autoriser les sous-tâches à avoir des points et que les personnes utilisent ce champ). Le processus Pure Scrum recommande d’estimer les sous-tâches en heures.
  • Tâches – N’oubliez pas que les tâches sont des tâches et non des histoires. Ce ne sont pas non plus des sous-tâches, mais elles peuvent avoir des sous-tâches. Les tâches rapportent également des points. De bons exemples de tâches sont la création de documents, les tâches opérationnelles et d’autres activités professionnelles. Les tâches doivent être des éléments du backlog et être liées à un projet ou à un produit. Seul le travail lié au produit doit être suivi dans Jira.
  • Bugs – Les bugs sont des bugs et non des histoires ou des tâches. Les bogues doivent obtenir des points et avoir une/des version(s) affectée(s) et une/des version(s) corrigée(s). Il devrait également y avoir un moyen de désigner les bugs de production par rapport à la pré-production.

Composants Jira

Les composants sont utiles pour l’équipe technique car ils peuvent s’étendre sur de nombreuses d’epics. Un composant typique peut être ‘database’ ou ‘UI’. Jira offre la possibilité d’attribuer le travail d’un composant particulier à un utilisateur de Jira particulier.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

Par exemple, tous les problèmes créés avec un composant de ‘base de données’ pourraient être attribués à John Smith. Grâce aux composants, vous pouvez générer des rapports, collecter des statistiques, les afficher sur des tableaux de bord, etc. Voici quelques exemples de composants:

  • Application Android ou iOS
  • API
  • Base de données

Libellés Jira

Les libellés dans Jira sont des balises ou des mots-clés que vous pouvez ajouter aux tickets pour indiquer s’ils possèdent certaines caractéristiques. Ils vous permettent de classer les problèmes de manière plus flexible et plus informelle qu’en attribuant des numéros de version ou des composants.

Ils sont beaucoup plus adaptables et ont l’avantage de permettre des affectations multiples. Avec les libellés, c’est à vous de décider comment vous les utilisez. Voici quelques exemplesЖ

  • Logique métier
  • Conception
  • Convivialité
  • Demande de l’utilisateur
  • Etc

Versions de Jira

Les versions sont un autre type de conteneur qui reflète les versions de produit ou de projet. Ceux-ci sont particulièrement utiles dans le développement de logiciels. Cela aide votre équipe à définir la version du projet sur laquelle elle travaille.

Backlog de Jira

Le Jira Backlog est une liste de tâches qui représente le travail en attente (inachevé) dans un projet. Habituellement, un projet aurait des problèmes dans le backlog, et vous pouvez ajouter ces problèmes à un sprint Jira afin que votre équipe puisse travailler dessus. Les backlogs aident à organiser les sprints, à systématiser leurs histoires, à créer des versions de produits, et bien plus encore.


Points Essentiels de Jira et Conseils de Démarrage

Une fois que vous vous êtes inscrit à Jira et que vous vous êtes connecté, les astuces et conseils ci-dessous vous permettront d’être au courant! Voici quelques faits et idées à garder à l’esprit:

Vous devriez avoir un processus, Jira ne vous en inventera pas

Tous les workflows de Jira sont personnalisables. Vous pouvez les ajuster pour les tâches, les sous-tâches et les projets. Cette approche vous permet de créer des tâches ou des projets avec des caractéristiques spécifiques et de suivre leur progression. De plus, vous pouvez créer vos propres workflows ou utiliser des applications pour leur personnalisation depuis l’Atlassian Marketplace.

Mais assurez-vous que votre organisation s’accorde sur certaines normes de travail: généralement, les gens veulent travailler à leur manière sans penser à la situation dans son ensemble. N’oubliez pas que les résultats proviennent de centaines de workflows ingérables. Vous avez besoin d’un chef de projet superstar pour tout mettre en place.

N’accordez les droits d’administration qu’aux personnes qui savent ce qu’elles font

Jira est très précis sur les autorisations. Vous pouvez établir les règles pour les différents membres de l’équipe concernant les commentaires, l’attribution des tâches, l’édition et la modification des tâches, l’affichage des projets, et bien plus encore. Cette fonctionnalité est particulièrement utile lorsque vous ne souhaitez pas montrer les informations les plus sensibles aux entreprises de sous-traitance ou aux sous-traitants temporaires.

Gardez le nombre de champs obligatoires au minimum pour créer une tâche

Notre cerveau est délicat. Il cherche toujours des moyens de couper les coins ronds. Ainsi, si vous définissez initialement une longue liste de champs obligatoires à remplir pour créer une tâche, les membres de l’équipe auront tendance à ignorer la procédure pour accélérer le travail.

Pour éviter ce problème, définissez les champs les plus importants pour la création de tâches. Et ajoutez plus d’exigences plus tard et uniquement lorsque cela est absolument nécessaire. De cette façon, vous serez sûr que personne n’esquive la création de tâches, et le résultat est de haute qualité.

Apprenez JQL pour filtrer rapidement et dynamiser les processus de travail

Jira Query Language (JQL) est une aide efficace pour un filtrage rapide. Les ingénieurs utilisent JQL pour la recherche avancée dans Jira afin d’afficher les informations nécessaires triées par dates, statuts, destinataires, versions, problèmes, etc.

JQL ressemble au langage SQL, et si vous connaissez ce dernier, cela ne vous posera aucun problème d’apprendre le premier. JQL réduit le nombre de clics et fait gagner du temps lors de la recherche de données dans Jira. De plus, vous pouvez enregistrer des recherches pour une visualisation future.

Personnalisez la vue détaillée de votre problème sur les cartes intégrées

À l’aide de la configuration du tableau, vous pouvez modifier ou ajouter des détails sur les problèmes à afficher sur les cartes de votre tableau. Avec des champs supplémentaires, vous pouvez ajouter les informations essentielles que vous devez voir sur vos cartes. De plus, vous pouvez modifier les détails de la carte d’un projet à l’autre.

Créer un tableau pour plusieurs projets

Vous pouvez configurer un tableau pour afficher les informations de divers projets. Pour cela, vous devez utiliser des filtres pour rassembler tous les problèmes du projet sur le tableau. Après cela, vous pouvez utiliser des filtres de couloir pour organiser les données.

Cette astuce vous aide à rassembler les informations nécessaires aux chefs de projet et aux parties prenantes.

Clic sécurisé avec raccourcis clavier

Pour afficher les raccourcis clavier, vous devez vous rendre sur le bouton “Aide”. Indice! C’est le point d’interrogation dans la barre du haut. Vous le trouverez dans le coin supérieur droit. Sélectionnez maintenant “Raccourcis clavier”.

Apprendre de la communauté Jira

Parfois, la meilleure façon de résoudre le problème est de demander à vos pairs. La communauté Atlassian est un groupe d’utilisateurs de Jira qui sont quotidiennement confrontés à des problèmes Jira et en discutent sur les forums Atlassian.

how to use jira – 2021 complete hands-on guide

En outre, vous pouvez visiter des événements virtuels et des séminaires sur des sujets spécifiques définis par la communauté Atlassian. Et même inscrivez-vous à un sommet annuel hors ligne d’Atlassian.

Remarque: en 2020, Atlassian a mis le Summit en ligne en raison de la situation du coronavirus.


Jira: Autres Fonctionnalités

Maintenant que nous connaissons certaines des meilleures astuces de Jira, découvrons quelques-unes de ses autres fonctionnalités.

Tableaux de bord Jira

Votre tableau de bord est l’affichage principal que vous voyez lorsque vous vous connectez à Jira. Vous pouvez créer plusieurs tableaux de bord à partir de différents projets ou plusieurs tableaux de bord pour un aperçu massif de tout le travail auquel vous participez. Vous pouvez créer un tableau de bord personnel et ajouter des gadgets pour suivre les devoirs et les problèmes sur lesquels vous travaillez. Les tableaux de bord sont conçus pour afficher des gadgets qui vous aident à organiser vos projets, devoirs et réalisations dans différents graphiques.

Rapports Jira

Jira fournit des informations pertinentes dans un format pratique appelé rapports. De nombreux rapports sont disponibles dans Jira, ce qui vous permet d’avoir une visibilité sur la situation. De plus, ces rapports offrent des statistiques de projet tout au long du cycle de vie. Par exemple, le graphique Burndown affiche la quantité réelle et estimée de travail à terminer dans le sprint. Leur cadre de reporting est également extensible. Cela signifie qu’il existe des modules complémentaires que vous pouvez installer pour ajouter des rapports supplémentaires à partir de l’Atlassian Marketplace.

Modules complémentaires Jira

Comme le Jira est équipé d’API Java flexibles et de REST, vous pouvez facilement étendre sa puissance et le faire fonctionner conformément à vos conditions commerciales. De plus, les plus de 800 add-ons et plugins Jira disponibles sur l’Atlassian Marketplace vous permettent de tout contrôler sur un produit.

Les modules complémentaires populaires pour Jira sont les diagrammes de Gantt (WBS Gantt Charts pour Jira, BigGantt et BigPicture), le suivi du temps (Tempo vs Everhour) et les outils d’aide au script et au codage (ScriptRunner pour Jira, Automation pour Jira, etc. ).

Peu importe ce que vous recherchez, il existe à peu près un module complémentaire Jira pour vous sur le Marketplace.


Comment Utiliser Jira: Conclusion

Chez Everhour, nous espérons que cet article a rendu Jira un peu plus clair pour vous! Jira est peut-être un service complexe, mais il a beaucoup à offrir. Avec des outils pour les PME et les grandes entreprises, Jira est un service diversifié qui répond à de nombreux besoins. De plus en plus, nous voyons des modules complémentaires utiles qui le rendent encore meilleur.

Si vous venez de démarrer votre entreprise, Jira propose une offre généreuse pour les nouveaux arrivants sous la forme d’un freemium pour 10 personnes et d’une large fonctionnalité de gestion de projet. De plus, la plupart des fonctionnalités de configuration ont été facilitées par les paramètres par défaut ou par des modules complémentaires de l’Atlassian Marketplace.

Nous sommes ravis de voir quelles nouvelles fonctionnalités seront ajoutées à Jira pour rendre notre vie professionnelle encore plus facile. Mais en attendant, si vous avez besoin d’un plugin de suivi du temps Jira solide, contactez-nous à Everhour! Toute notre équipe vous souhaite une bonne gestion de projet!

The post Comment Utiliser Jira – Guide Pratique Complet 2024 appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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20 GREAT Jira Alternative for 2024: Free and Paid https://everhour.com/blog/jira-alternatives/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 17:35:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=17457 Though Jira is helpful in various aspects of project management, it’s far from perfect. For one, Jira doesn’t have the best mobile app version. Not only is the interface difficult to navigate, but it also requires you to log in every time you open the app. This can be very frustrating if you’re in a […]

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Though Jira is helpful in various aspects of project management, it’s far from perfect. For one, Jira doesn’t have the best mobile app version. Not only is the interface difficult to navigate, but it also requires you to log in every time you open the app. This can be very frustrating if you’re in a hurry and just want to check your dashboard quickly.

Even on desktops, navigating Jira’s complicated interface can be tedious and don’t even get me started on workflows. If it’s your first time using Jira, the workflows can be a nightmare.

With these, I can totally understand why you’re looking for Jira alternatives. Lucky for you, I already did the legwork.

As a seasoned project manager, I’ve used various project management tools over the course of my practice. Here are some of the free and paid alternatives to Jira that are worth checking out based on my professional opinion.


Paid Jira Alternatives

If you’re looking for premium tools and have the budget, these Jira competitors are your best bet:

1. Everhour

Key Features: Time tracking (including Jira time tracking), unique integration system, expense counting, invoicing, resource, and project management.
💰 Pricing: three pricing plans – Free (up to 5 users), Lite ($5 per user/month, yearly), and Team ($8.50 per user/month, yearly).

20 great jira alternative fo 2023: free and paid

Everhour is primarily known as a time-tracking tool, but it also offers other project management features. It helps to log work in Jira seamlessly and quickly.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Everhour provides seamless integration with numerous software. They even have a Jira plugin. So if you can’t give up Jira just yet, you can just install their plugin to make time tracking a lot easier.
✔️ It’s cheaper than most tools on this list.
❌ It doesn’t have all the features available on Jira, but it’s a decent alternative nonetheless.


Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!


2. Aha.io

Key Features: It includes a project roadmap, service roadmap, and product roadmap.
💰 Pricing: It’s 59$ per user/month. 

20 jira alternatives that are worth checking out (free and paid)

Aha.io is a product roadmap tool that lets you visualize your project’s timing and progress.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It provides easy integration with Jira.
✔️ Highly scalable.
✔️ It offers centralized tracking of data.
✔️ Best-suited for roadmap views.
❌ Mobile applications are poorly developed.
❌ Expensive.
❌ Its integration process is complex.


3. Blossom

Key Features: Product roadmaps, in-app discussion groups, cycle time on every completed feature card.
💰 Pricing: It costs between 19$ to 149$ monthly.

20 jira alternatives that are worth checking out (free and paid)

Blossom is a lightweight project management tool specially designed for distributed companies.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It helps in visualizing processes that are based on Kanban principles.
✔️ Can create a well-designed report.
✔️ Integration is easy. 
❌ More expensive than other Jira alternatives.


4. Airfocus

Key Features: Colored codes and icons; unlimited and customizable templates; backlog grooming and bug tracking features.
💰 Pricing: Airfocus costs a user 15$ per month.

20 jira alternatives that are worth checking out (free and paid)

Airfocus is used for road mapping and prioritization. 

Pros and cons:

✔️ Provides easy integration with other software management tools.
✔️ Easy to understand and design tasks.
✔️ Helpful in decision-making and problem-solving.
❌ It is not optimized for mobile phones.
❌ The timeline is not very efficient.
❌ The free trial does not include advanced features. 
❌ It is expensive compared to other Jira competitors. 


5. ActiveCollab

Key Features: Work management automation; tasks, timeline, and list views; custom notifications service.
💰 Pricing: It costs every user $9 monthly.

20 jira alternatives that are worth checking out (free and paid)

ActiveCollab is an all-in-one project management tool designed especially for collaboration.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It provides expanded functionality.
✔️ The system is frequently updated.
✔️ Efficient time tracking.
❌ You can’t turn off unnecessary features.
❌ Not so flexible when it comes to search functionality.


6. LiquidPlanner

Key Features: Automatic scheduling technology; integrated project portfolio; workload, schedule, and task board viewing options.
💰 Pricing: The price of a professional plan is 45$ per month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

LiquidPlanner is a smart project management tool that can predict task completion.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It helps in putting priorities first. 
✔️ It’s best for tracking billable and non-billable hours. 
❌ Not so user-friendly.
❌ The user interface is not attractive and efficient.


7. Wrike

Key Features: Cloud-based software for collaboration; high-quality built-in templates; customizable tools; automated approval system.
💰 Pricing: Wrike charges 9.80$ per user per month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Wrike is a Jira-like software that’s geared for medium-sized or enterprise-level teams. 

Pros and cons:

✔️ Excellent for visibility and workflows.
✔️ Effective in empowering team members. 
✔️ It increases productivity.
✔️ It helps simplify the planning process.
❌ The user interface is quite complicated. 


8. Hygger

Key Features: Time tracking; conversation management tool; checklists; Kanban boards; backlog management tool.
💰 Pricing: Their standard plan costs $7 monthly per user, while the enterprise plan is $14 per user per month.

Hygger: Project Management Software & Tools for Companies

Hygger is a project management tool with a special focus on task prioritization.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Relatively easy to use.
✔️ Great customer service.
✔️ It offers direct migration from Trello.
❌ No import features.
❌ It’s difficult to book a standard plan.


9. Mavenlink

Key Features: Gantt charts; email and google integration; file-sharing; tight security features.
💰 Pricing: They offer four plans for different monthly pricing packages. The team plan costs $19 per user, while the professional plan costs $39.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Mavenlink is a full-featured project management and team collaboration software, but it’s especially handy for resource management.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Effective in planning, estimating, executing, analyzing, and optimizing.
✔️ Stable even with so many features.
❌ All advanced features are mostly included in premium plans.
❌ Too expensive for small businesses.
❌ There’s no chat app or direct communication feature.
❌ No financial forecasting functionality.


10. Smartsheet

Key Features: Workflow automation; data synchronization across all business systems; content management; digital asset management; resource management and forecasting.
💰 Pricing: Pricing starts from 7$ per month for a single user.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

This is a collaboration and project management software with a robust set of features.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Easy to learn and understand.
✔️ Easier result-sharing.
✔️ Customizable features.
✔️ Automated proofing and approvals.
❌ Automatic backups are not available.
❌ It’s not intuitive.
❌ It doesn’t have hotkeys or shortcuts like Excel or Google sheets.


11. Craft.io

Key Features: Gantt timeline view; activity/news feed; KPI monitoring; feedback management; collaboration tools.
💰 Pricing: Pricing starts from 39$ per month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Craft.io is a product management software that enables managers to capture feedback, make decisions, and plan within one tool.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Helpful in creating stunning product prototypes.
✔️ Great for story planning, creating sprints and roadmaps and collaborating with teammates.  
✔️ The learning curve is short.
❌ It doesn’t support efficient integration with Jira.
❌ Poor security features.
❌ Implementation takes a lot of time as it is not flexible. 


12. Basecamp

Key Features: Automatic check-ins; document and file-sharing; instant messaging
💰 Pricing: It charges 99$ per month, but for unlimited users.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Basecamp is a project management and collaboration software perfect for remote teams.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It offers annual packages with unlimited users.
✔️ Easy to set up.
✔️ It provides integration with a wide variety of apps and software. 
❌ No proofing tools.
❌ You need a separate time tracking software.



Free Alternatives to Jira

For small businesses who can’t afford to shell out hundreds of dollars a month, here are some free Jira alternatives for you:

1. Asana

Key Features: It offers more than fifty templates for projects; Gannt charts; start and due dates chart; task dependencies.
💰 Pricing: Asana basic is free, but paid plans start at 10.99$ per month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

With its user-friendly interface and more straightforward task modification, Asana is one of the most popular project management tools currently in the market. There are tons of Asana integrations and Asana alternatives that are on par with it.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It requires very little onboarding. (See my in-depth review of Asana)
✔️ Best for providing lists, timelines, and calendar views.
❌ No instant messaging features.
❌ It needs a separate time-tracking app (but you can use Asana + Everhour solution)
❌ You can’t assign one task to multiple people.



2. ClickUp

Key Features: Time tracking; nested checklists; customizable functionalities; workflow automation; in-app instant messaging.
💰 Pricing: The paid version is $5 per month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

ClickUp is an easy-to-use and flexible productivity tool that can be used to manage multiple projects across different areas.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Great for automating routine tasks.
✔️ It has agile board views.
✔️ It offers document collaboration similar to Google docs.
✔️ The features available in their free plan are usually enough for small start-ups.
❌ The interface can be challenging to navigate.
❌ The app is unstable and susceptible to bugs.
❌ Too many notifications.
❌ The agile board views can be overwhelming.



3. Teamwork

Key Features: Kanban boards; time tracking; live RSS feed and messaging option; templates to scale processes
💰 Pricing: Premium plans start at $10 per month per person.

best basecamp alternatives: 15 tools to consider

Teamwork is project management software ideal for freelancers and those who deal with various clients.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It can analyze the risks in the project’s progress.
✔️ Effective in organizing projects, tasks, schedules, teams, and much more. 
✔️ It provides an email support system. 
❌ Premium visualization is not available. 
❌ It does not provide step-by-step documentation options. 


4. Trello

Key Features: Timeline and mapping views; workflow automation; unlimited storage; advanced checklists.
💰 Pricing: It charges 9.99$ per user every month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Another popular free alternative to Jira, Trello is excellent for simple and basic project management tasks.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Straightforward onboarding.
✔️ User-friendly interface (even non-techie team members can use it).
❌ No support system is available, over the phone or online. 
❌ Not suitable for Gantt charts.
❌ No option for real-time reporting.



5. nTask

Key Features: Project planning; resource allocation program.
💰 Pricing: Charges start at 2.99$ per month/ single user. 

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

nTask is another Jira-like tool that helps teams to manage tasks efficiently. 

Pros and cons:

✔️ It allows for easy provision of budgeting and a final summary.
✔️ Great for setting milestones.


6. Bitrix24

Key Features: An advanced system for documentation; time tracker; responsive templates.
💰 Pricing: Their paid plans start from 24$ per month for two people.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Bitrix24 is a combination of CRM, communication, and project management all in one place. 

Pros and cons:

✔️ Seamless collaboration.
✔️ It can be used for both small and large teams.
✔️ Flexible and easy to understand.


7. Zoho Sprints

Key Features: Scrum and sprint dashboards; 24/7 live chat support system; customizable scrum boards.
💰 Pricing: The premium version costs 14$ for a month if you have 12 users.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Zoho Sprints is a helpful tool for agile product management teams.

Pros and cons:

✔️ It organizes work by breaking it down into stories, bugs, and tasks. In addition, proper dashboards are provided that help in project tracking and checking sprints’ progress.
✔️ Helpful in cross-functional team collaboration.
✔️ After integrating with Jenkins and other tools for code repository, it makes developmental workflows automatic.
❌ Work items have to be manually created as there is no duplicate function.
❌ No cumulative project timesheet, so you need to calculate each user’s individual timesheet to determine the month’s performance.


8. Airtable

Key Features: Content calendar; product roadmap; event planner; customizable features; configurable views.
💰 Pricing: If you want to enjoy premium features, you need to pay 10$ per member each month.

free task management software: top picks in 2021!

Airtable is a project management tool that uses a combination of spreadsheet and database features.

Pros and cons:

✔️ Easy integration with various applications (including Airtable time tracking integrations).
✔️ Team members can effortlessly coordinate with any member at any time.
❌ Complex and difficult to understand. 
❌ It doesn’t support formula builders.
❌ It lacks an auto-refreshing system. 
❌ Payment methods can be confusing.


Jira Alternatives: the Bottom Line

Choosing the most suitable project management tool is probably one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your business. Unfortunately, with many Jira alternatives available in the market, it can be hard to find the perfect match that will meet all of your needs. You may even have to go by the time-tested adage of trial and error. But once you find the “one,” everything will be worth it. So choose wisely and choose well.

The post 20 GREAT Jira Alternative for 2024: Free and Paid appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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Jira Templates: Harness Their Power & Streamline Every Process in Your Project https://everhour.com/blog/jira-templates/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 16:50:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=29967 In a fast-paced working environment, time is of the essence. The ability of project managers to quickly set up and organize projects for their staff is crucial for maximizing productivity, delivering exceptional results, and ensuring a smooth collaboration between all the team members. Thanks to the Jira project management tool and its library of pre-configured […]

The post Jira Templates: Harness Their Power & Streamline Every Process in Your Project appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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In a fast-paced working environment, time is of the essence. The ability of project managers to quickly set up and organize projects for their staff is crucial for maximizing productivity, delivering exceptional results, and ensuring a smooth collaboration between all the team members. Thanks to the Jira project management tool and its library of pre-configured templates, millions of businesses worldwide rely on the software and its flexible features to stay on track.

In this article, we’ll walk you through:

  • The most commonly used Jira templates
  • How to customize Jira templates to meet your project’s needs
  • How to create a Jira template from scratch
  • Take a brief look at the Jira marketplace and its template libraries
  • Best practices for using Jira templates to make the most of them
  • Jira integration capabilities with other apps and software

But before we get into any of that, let’s look at what Jira templates are, their purpose, and how your business can benefit from using Jira moving forward.

What Are Jira Templates and What Is Their Purpose?

jira templates

Jira workflow templates are pre-configured project setups designed to help you and your team to streamline the tasks and responsibilities for a project right off the bat. The purpose of Jira templates is to save time, improve efficiency, and ensure consistency across all of your projects.

In other words, rather than starting each project from scratch, you and your team can leverage Jira templates to quickly establish a standardized project structure that aligns with the specific requirements of your project. For example, if your project is to do with issue resolution, using an issue template on Jira is a great idea. That way, no time is wasted in capacity planning or figuring out how to set everything up for a smooth workflow.


Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Benefits of Using Jira Templates

There are many benefits to adopting Jira and using its many pre-defined templates as part of your workflow. Some of the most notable advantages to you and your team include:

  • You and your team will save a lot of time
  • Workflows will remain consistent, making your team more efficient over time
  • Human error will be brought down to a minimum
  • Productivity will sky-rocket
  • Your workflow and processes will become scalable and more flexible
  • Improved visibility and reporting

As you can see, besides the initial learning curve that you will have to go through, there are no drawbacks to adopting Jira templates. So if you want to stay competitive and work smarter, not harder, Jira templates are a great place to start.


Commonly Used Jira Templates

If it’s your first time using Jira, you might be surprised by the sheer amount of Jira plugins and templates that you and your team can start using right away. Most people use Jira for bug-tracking, agile development, and task management. However, it can be used for so much more than that. So it’s important that you browse through the templates to find the one that best works for you and your team. That said, in the section below, we’ll go over four Jira template examples that are most commonly used by users from all over the world.

Scrum Board Template

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

Scrum Boards give teams a visual way of managing processes and tracking progress. Jira has a specific Scrum Board Template that you can use for tracking bugs. The template gives you an instant and comprehensive view of your project’s progress, allowing you to always stay on top. After reviewing it closely, it is clear why it’s one of the leading Jira task templates on the market.

Bug Tracking Template

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

Jira truly excels as a bug-tracking platform. And one of the most popular Jira templates for tickets is the Bug Tracking Template, which makes reporting bugs and assigning corrective actions easily. Bugs will be a problem with any software, which is why it’s best to spot them right away so the team can work on potential solutions to the problems. That way, you can ensure that all users have a positive experience with your software, website, or app.

Kanban Board Template

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

Agile management is a great approach to software development. A great way to streamline this process is a Kanban board. The Jira Kanban Board Template is great for producing work-in-progress and keeping the project moving forward. This way, you won’t have as much of a hard time keeping up with schedules and maximizing your team’s capabilities.

General Service Management Template

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

It’s important for your team to be able to manage service requests right away. Whenever a client or user runs into an issue, they need to find answers as soon as possible. With the Jira General Service Management template, it will be much easier to answer service requests and create a comprehensive knowledge base where users can find all the information they need. It’s arguably the best Jira issue template out there.

Content Management Template

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

All software needs a good selection of content that informs, entertains, and helps its users. This Content Management Template gives you full control of your content life cycle. The template gives you a visual workflow and instant tracking, so you always know what stage of content development or release your team is in. Content management is an essential process for all software development teams, and this template makes all of that much easier.


Customizing Jira Templates

Jira templates instantly make things easier for your entire team. But to make the most out of any given template, you can tweak it to the specific needs and requirements of your project. That way, all the data and metrics that are being tracked are in-line with your team’s approach to completing any given project. Let’s take a look at how you can tailor Jira templates to your project to maximize the app’s benefits.

The best way to use Jira templates is by tailoring them to your project. There are three main options for teams looking to customize their templates: field configuration, workflow adjustments, and permission settings.

🔨 Field configuration

Jira can display various fields for team managers and members to view whenever they open the platform. To maximize your template, it’s important that you tweak and configure the fields according to your needs. You can choose what information Jira captures and displays on the platform and you can customize them as much as you need. If you’re looking to ensure that the Jira template works for your project, the first thing you will need to tweak is the fields.

🔁 Workflow adjustments

A workflow is basically the life cycle of an issue on Jira. You can tweak workflows to include the different statuses that an issue will go through, transitions between statuses, and other aspects to align the workflows with your project’s stages and processes. Your workflows should reflect the way you want the project to progress, so make sure to tweak the workflows before presenting them to your team.

👍 Permission settings

Jira templates come with their own unique permission settings. This basically sets who can perform certain actions and who can’t. Every project has its own setup and permission requirements. This is why it’s important to tweak the permissions of the Jira template according to your project’s workflow. That way, everyone can work on whatever tasks are required without running into unnecessary roadblocks or people making changes that they shouldn’t be making in the first place.


Creating New Jira Templates

Another way to streamline your workflow with Jira is by creating your own templates. If you have many recurring or similar projects with your team, creating Jira templates that work for your needs can be a huge help. When you create your own templates, you don’t have to do any further customization when starting a project.

Instead, you can just choose whichever template you created for a certain type of project and get started in a matter of seconds. The best part is that Jira templates are really easy to make. In fact, you’ll be able to create a template that you can use for endless projects in just a few minutes.

Log in to the instance

To create a template, you need to have the appropriate admin access and permissions, so to start, you must first log into your Jira instance. Once you’re logged in, you can select the project for which you would like to create the template. From there, click on project settings before proceeding to the next step.

Create a new issue type

Once on the project settings, you can click the button to create a new issue type. After doing this, you can set all the details of the issue, including descriptions and fields. It’s essential that you make the fields and descriptions general and flexible while also tailoring them to your team’s needs.

Configure the workflow

Next up, you need to configure the workflow of your Jira template. That way, once the template starts to be used by your team, every aspect of the project is handled in the best and most efficient way possible.

Setup screen schemes

Once the workflow of the template has been configured, the next step is setting up the screen schemes. Screen schemes define which screens are used for different operations within Jira. Examples of operations can include creating, editing, or viewing an issue. To set them up, locate the “Issues” section on the Jira Administration page and click on “Screens” right under it.

From there, click on “Add Screen.” This will create a new screen for you. Once the screen has been created, you need to associate it with a screen scheme. Then, simply provide a name and description for each new screen scheme you add.

Test the template

Once you’ve set up the entire template, the next step is to test it and make sure that it works just the way you want it to. There’s a chance that you will need to adjust or tweak certain aspects of a template before you can use it for your projects. Instead of finding solutions when using the template, you can test it prior to starting your project. That way, you can fix any issues and roadblocks before they arise mid-way through your project.

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

Jira Marketplace and Template Libraries

As Jira is one of the most popular project management software out there, you best believe that the Jira marketplace and the many template libraries offer you a wide range of templates to choose from. When you go through the Atlassian marketplace, you’ll find both paid and free templates.

Now, you don’t have to pay for templates if you want to use Jira. In fact, the Atlassian library offers a bunch of great free templates that could be precisely what your project needs. However, certain paid templates come with very specific features that can greatly benefit your project, so make sure you pay close attention to what each template features.

To decide which Jira template is best for you, we recommend referring to your project. From there, you’ll be able to determine what you need from the template, what fields are necessary, and the best visualization for your strategy. Once you do this, you can rest assured that you’ll have a much easier time choosing the best template that you and your team can use.

✨ Popular template libraries for Jira users

If you’re looking for a specific type of template but still want to explore your options, you should explore Atlassian’s template libraries. These libraries are compilations of various templates designed for specific projects and purposes. Some of the best and most popular template libraries you may want to check out include:

  • Jira automation template library
  • Jira project management template library
  • API libraries
  • Integration libraries

Best Practices for Using Jira Templates

There’s nothing wrong if you have a hard time using Jira templates the first time you try them. You’ll definitely experience a learning curve when adopting Jira, especially when you start utilizing any of their templates.

This is why there are a few best practices that we’d recommend you should follow to make the most out of Jira right from the beginning. These include:

💡 Focus on flexibility & consistency

One of your main goals when using Jira templates is remaining consistent, especially in how you perform actions and finish issues. That said, doing so requires a bit of flexibility with your template. To fully utilize a Jira template, you need to tweak it so that it fits the exact needs of your project. This is why you need to choose scalable templates that are easy to tweak for your project without being a time-sink.

📛 Clear and consistent naming

You need to assign the right names for your Jira templates. When you have a consistent naming system, you’ll have a much easier time navigating through your templates and choosing the best one for your team. Even if you have different versions of your templates, make sure to keep the names consistent so that they’re easy to find. 

🔧 Regular maintenance

Whether you’re using Jira task templates, workflow templates, issue templates, or any other, regular maintenance and updates are essential to keep the templates functional. You can’t avoid the chance of your workflow and processes changing over time, so your templates need to reflect that. This is why regular maintenance and testing of your Jira templates is essential if you want to prevent hiccups in your team’s workflow.

🏋️‍♀️ Continuous improvement

In line with the last tip, we highly recommend practicing continuous improvement when using any type of template on Jira. When you develop a culture of continuous improvement in your team, you’ll constantly innovate new ways to handle tasks and make your employee’s life at work a whole lot easier. No Jira template is perfect (even the Jira epic templates), so keeping continuous improvement in the back of your mind will do wonders for your and your team’s productivity.

Integration with Other Tools and Systems

Aside from being a fantastic project management software, the reasons for adopting Jira as part of your workflow don’t end there. Jira is one of the most compatible and integratable platforms out there. You can integrate the software with the large majority of mainstream and small software that you are most likely already using – be it for communication or something entirely different. Some of Jira’s most notable integrations include:

Everhour

how to configure jira time tracking: native & everhour time trackers

Everhour is one of the leading time trackers on the market that is commonly used for Jira time tracking. It integrates with Jira seamlessly and offers a robust set of features, making it a popular choice for teams that are looking to accurately track and manage their time spent on Jira tasks and projects.

By connecting Everhour to Jira, you and your team can effortlessly log your time in Jira, create detailed timesheets, generate insightful reports, and effectively plan and allocate resources. And thanks to Everhour’s intuitive integration with Jira, you can streamline your workflow while gaining valuable insights into your project’s timelines and resource utilization.

Bitbucket

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

Bitbucket is a Git-based code hosting and collaboration tool. On top of that, it’s specifically optimized to work well with Jira. So, if you already use Bitbucket in your operations, you’ll have a very easy time integrating it with Jira and making both tools work in sync.

Slack

jira templates: harness their power & streamline every process in your project

Slack is one of the most popular workplace communication tools and is used by millions every single day. Its global popularity is mostly due to how efficient, simple, and powerful it is at keeping your team airtight, even if your entire team works remotely. Slack is perfect for sending updates, reminders, and communicating with your team. You can easily integrate Jira with Slack, so you can tackle bugs head-on while ensuring that the entire team is on the same page.

Confluence

18 best notion alternatives to boost your productivity

Confluence is another collaboration and documentation tool made by Atlassian – the same company that stands behind Jira. By integrating Jira with Confluence, you can seamlessly link project documentation, requirements, and development tasks to maximize efficiency at the workplace.

Conclusion

Using a predefined template on Jira is essential for any team. When you find the right template and configure it to your project’s needs, it will not only save you and your team a lot of time, and make processes more efficient and organized, but it will dramatically reduce human error.

As a result, whatever project you’re working on, once you have a solid foundation thanks to using a Jira template, every process from start to finish will be butter-smooth, giving you and your team an easier time.

The post Jira Templates: Harness Their Power & Streamline Every Process in Your Project appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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Jira Log Work: Bring Efficiency and Accuracy to the Table https://everhour.com/blog/jira-log-work/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 15:07:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=27311 Most times, it’s quite a struggle to get employees to log time. However, employee time tracking is a significant part of many businesses, with managers depending on it to generate accurate reports on time spent at work and progress on tasks. Without such a tool, employees can provide irregular information, especially with an app that […]

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Most times, it’s quite a struggle to get employees to log time. However, employee time tracking is a significant part of many businesses, with managers depending on it to generate accurate reports on time spent at work and progress on tasks. Without such a tool, employees can provide irregular information, especially with an app that does not cover the basics. Logging time may take some extra time, but it is important. 

Many tools and apps help make the process easier for everyone involved. But Jira log work stands out, ensuring all your tracking and reporting efforts are worthwhile. You even get more benefits when you match Jira with the perfect integration. 

TL;DR

  1. There’s a Jira time tracking integration for just about anything you might need–from time tracking and reporting to a real-time feed of all your tasks.
  2. There’s a Free and lightweight timer add-on that is simple yet significantly streamlines time tracking within Jira.

Why Do You Need to Log Time in Jira? 

Many tasks and projects are time-sensitive or time-bound. As a result, getting your employees onside with your expectations concerning delivery and timing is important. However, many employees feel logging time adds to already existing work pressures. While that may be true for some, logging and tracking time in Jira provides a seamless experience. Here are reasons why using Jira is a no-brainer.

Track your team

jira log work: bring efficiency and accuracy to the table

It’s normal for employees to complain about various interruptions during working hours, including logging time. Jira tracks time and makes the process easier for employees when they enable the time tracker before starting work. This way, nothing gets in the way of their job or task. 

Increase productivity

Jira log work doesn’t just handle timing and punctuality but also does its bit to boost productivity. It’s not easy to measure efficiency when there’s more than a fair amount of work to do. However, Jira helps you plan the day, organize your workload, and transparency, which increases productivity.

In addition, your organization benefits from the information, which helps you allocate the right resources and make the ideal decisions to move forward. That includes budgeting and general invoicing. 

Integration and collaboration 

The log work Jira software provides is a development tool to track and manage Jira projects. It doesn’t end there because it also allows effective communication and collaboration with multiple outside parties. To this end, you can use the log from Jira to plan, assign, prioritize, and keep tabs on every project. Irrespective of the size and scope of your team, expect functionality when you log time in Jira. 


Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!


How to Motivate Employees to Log Work in Jira

Logging work in Jira is simple, but many employees need to see the process’ need or significance. For these reasons, motivating them to take advantage of the Jira work log is essential. Here’s how you can do that:

When there’s a lack of understanding about why they should log time – Emphasize the importance

When employees don’t understand how to use a certain tool or software, they can lash out by not using it. That can affect your business, so it’s best to explain why you have incorporated Jira into your system. Rather than victimizing anyone for not using Jira properly, appeal to their rational side with viable reasons why they need to log work in Jira, create reports, and use this helpful software to make their work easier. 

Misconceptions about Jira being time-consuming and adding to multiple tasks – Show your employees how they can visualize tasks and automate logging work

A misconception that work log Jira takes time is largely unfounded. You can show employees how to see the current workflow and tasks in one place with just a few clicks. That’s because, with Jira, everything is synchronized for easy flow. Moreover, employees get their workspace with their tasks and projects, which helps them log in and concentrate on what’s in front of them. 

Tracking time invades privacy and affects productivity – Explain how you’re all about efficiency at the workplace 

Using Jira log time to produce a clear and updated report is important. Managers need a work hours tracker to understand how much time and effort employees dedicate to a specific project or type of work. Besides, tracking billable and non-billable hours is essential, especially if employees do more tasks that aren’t billed. 

Instead of invading employees’ privacy, Jira helps them work better with schedules. They know when to start and stop and everything else in between. 

Setup takes some energy and is complex to perform – Help all employees with basic setup

Using a new tool like Jira can be stressful for employees who are not tech-savvy. Managers can help them go through every step of the process. It’s more than just providing video tutorials. Give them a comfortable setting, reassurance, and enough space to personalize their experiences with Jira. 


4 Best Tools for Jira 

As Jira’s popularity grows, it’s even more important for businesses and organizations to get the perfect tools to use with this software. Here are three top choices you can count on: 

Everhour – Jira Time Tracking Integration

💰 Pricing: Free plan, Monthly – $10 per user; Yearly – $8.50 per user
🔨 How to install: Sign up with Everhour, invite your team, and just install this Everhour-Jira plugin from the Atlassian Marketplace

Like Jira, Everhour presents a simple and intuitive software designed to help businesses manage their projects and time-tracking needs. It is every bit as reliable and one of the best third-party tools you can integrate with Jira to achieve great results. 

With its robust features, Everhour integrates with many team management systems, such as Asana, Trello, Basecamp, GitHub, and many more. If you want a tool that lets you add a streamlined quality to Jira, Everhour will do that for all your projects. You can manage your employees effectively, use Jira templates, delegate tasks, create reports, and track time. 

Key Features 

  • Integrations: Everhour offers top-notch integration and syncing with a wide range of business tools and applications, including Jira. With an Everhour-Jira combo, you can now track time in the most efficient and user-friendly way. 
  • Project Management: Everhour is the tool you need to complement Jira when you have different types of projects to handle. It helps you set up a unique customer and task management module that runs simultaneously. This way, you can monitor customer data live and figure out the best way to deal with any support request. 
  • Comprehensive reporting: Robust reporting features are present in Everhour to help your team generate reports that meet specific or unique requirements. For example, your employees can create custom reports from collected data, format filters, and change the order of columns. 
  • Time tracking: Everhour is a timesheet app you can use to track time on either the web app or an installed browser extension. However, they don’t have any offline functionality, so you need the internet to get them to work. Combining it with Jira means you can track the start and progress of multiple projects and tasks run by your teams. Timelines and timestamps are additional ways to help you track time. 
  • Invoicing: You can add detailed invoicing to the mix, especially for billable time and expenses while working for a client. It’s possible to customize the invoice report feature to include how payment is made and the number of persons getting paid. 

Free and Lightweight Timer Add-on for Jira

💰 Pricing: Free
🔨 How to install: Install the Free Jira timer plugin from the Atlassian Marketplace and start tracking time

This add-on offers several advantages:

  • Easily manage and monitor time directly from the issue details modal.
  • Intuitive controls make time tracking accessible to all team members, regardless of their familiarity with time tracking tools.
  • The Time tab organizes entries in a well-structured table, allowing you to quickly review and analyze past entries.
  • Whether you prefer timers or manual entry, our add-on adapts to your workflow, providing a lightweight and adaptable solution.

Buddy Punch

jira log work: bring efficiency and accuracy to the table

Buddy Punch offers something extra for employees when they think about how to log work in Jira. Your employees can use it to clock in and out at the click of a button, regardless of their location. With much of the world moving to remote-working systems, Buddy Punch is ideal for employee oversight. The intuitive dashboards make it easy to schedule time and view activities. 

When combined with Jira, you won’t have to worry about team members since you can monitor team productivity from miles away. 

Key Features 

  • Streamline timesheet data collection: When all the data you need is in a central location, it’s easy to measure and utilize a wide range of employee performance data to make informed leadership decisions. This adds speed and flexibility to your workflow. Additionally, Buddy Punch automates this process, so there’s no need to harass employees for the latest timesheet data. 
  • Monitor overtime: Buddy Punch is a time clock app that gives you real-time insights into your employees’ hours. You can use this tool with Jira to set up emails or mobile notifications when an employee is nearing their maximum for the day or week and adjust your schedule accordingly. 
  • Reports: Sometimes, you need a bird’s-eye-view of every aspect of some projects. With the reports feature on Buddy Punch, it’s easy to use several different customizable reports to match your business needs. This tool comes with varied spreadsheet formats, such as the commonly used Excel and PDF export, which you can use to send out reports. 

Pricing 

It’s worth noting that all the plans on Buddy Punch include a free trial. The plans are: 

  • Standard plan: This plan suits any business, regardless of size. It’s charged at $2.99 per user/month billed annually, including a $19 base fee per month. You get unlimited free administrations, mobile apps, alerts, reporting, payroll integrations, break planning, and multi-channel support on this plan. 
  • Pro plan: On this plan, get ready to pay $3.99 per user/month, billed annually or $4.49 if billed monthly, and a base fee of $19 per month. You will get more features, including employee scheduling, schedule templates, notifications, availability management, and reporting on employee presence/absence. 

DeskTime 

the 12 best free time tracking apps to optimize workplace productivity

DeskTime is a user-friendly, intuitive, and interactive platform ideal for monitoring team’s work hours. While it’s great for smaller teams, big organizations could use its touch since it helps track time and manage operations. Also, you can use it on multiple devices, including mobile and PC. 

Key Features 

  • Automatic time tracking: Tracking time automatically boosts productivity and work management skills. That’s because it’s easier to manage tasks, especially if you have to repeat them daily. With that, team leads and their members can reach and achieve goals faster. DeskTime offers you control of your time, which is important. 
    As a tracker, you can combine DeskTime and Jira to document the amount of time spent on activities, tasks, and other projects throughout the day or at specific periods. It also helps you understand whether your team is productive and efficient daily. 
    “Can I log in when I work?” is a question many employees ask. But with the automation here, you can get on with your job while DeskTime takes care of the logging aspect. 
  • Project time tracking: An entire team or group of employees might have to work on the same project. You don’t need to be apprehensive about tracking the progress or the commitment levels of each member, thanks to DeskTime. It lets you see the total time spent on the project and individual contributions. Tracking time here also includes setting realistic deadlines and organizing team workflow, which helps you do the same for future projects. 
  • Producing timely reports: DeskTime is the tool you want if you want to create detailed project reports within seconds. Doing so manually will take time, but with all the necessary information you need on the project, it’s easy to accomplish. For example, you can have info on employee presence, absence, productivity, and total time spent on a project. 

Pricing 

As an attendance tracker tool that integrates well with Jira, DeskTime offers the following plans: 

  • DeskTime lite: This lite plan is good for one user only. You will get automatic time tracking, URL and app tracking, the mobile app, and integrated web timer features. It is the free plan offered by DeskTime. 
  • Pro plan: The pro plan has a free trial mode, but it costs $7 per user per month. You get basic features on this plan, such as automatic time tracking, productivity calculation, integrated web timer, ideal time tracking, and some user integrations. 
  • Pro plus: At $10 per month per user, you get some quality features to add to those in the pro plan. They include automatic screenshots, shift scheduling, company integrations, booking, offline time approval, absence calendar, and IP restrictions. 
  • Enterprise plan: By far the best plan on DeskTime, it costs $20 per user per month. The free trial gives you insight into how it works and how it combines with Jira. In addition to the plans and features above, expect personalized onboarding, unlimited projects, unlimited tasks, unlimited data history, and custom API functions. 

Jira Work Log: Conclusion

Jira log work offers flexibility across different functions and projects. When you need to develop, organize, manage, and track projects, it’s the go-to tool you can count on. Besides, it allows for effective collaboration and communication within teams and outside parties, should the need arise. Businesses can use it to set the ball rolling in their bid to support and satisfy customers. 

If you want your team to achieve more goals with Jira, consider combining it with a tool like Everhour. Together, you can set values, manage your team, track performances, schedule time, deal with invoices, and generate reports. Moreover, Everhour and Jira are easy to use together. And with the right guidance from the management team, employees won’t have issues working with these state-of-the-art tools. 

The post Jira Log Work: Bring Efficiency and Accuracy to the Table appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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Jira Project Management: Everything You Need to Know https://everhour.com/blog/jira-project-management/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:09:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=10904 So, you’re considering choosing Jira for your project management software needs? That’s great! The Jira project management system is one of the best out there for all types of teams. But it’s also one of the most extensive, meaning there’s a lot to get to grips with. In this article, we’ve gathered together our experience – […]

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So, you’re considering choosing Jira for your project management software needs? That’s great! The Jira project management system is one of the best out there for all types of teams. But it’s also one of the most extensive, meaning there’s a lot to get to grips with.

In this article, we’ve gathered together our experience – from how Jira time tracking can help in aligning projects in Jira together to powerful alternatives to Jira – and compiled it into what you need to know when choosing Jira for project management.

Jira: A Short History

Jira was launched way back in 2002 by Atlassian. In the beginning, it was purely a bug and issue tracking platform for software developers, not the complex project management that has evolved into today. 

Today, Atlassian is often held up as one of 🇦🇺Australia’s biggest success stories. They’ve won the best place to work in Australia award a couple of years in a row, and have been in the top 10 for as long as they were applying.

Atlassian market capitalization is $37.90 Billion!

jira project management: here’s what you need to know
-1998-
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, both 18, land in the same scholarship course at the University of New South Wales.

-2001-
Atlassian is registered as a business name.

-2002-
Atlassian becomes real with the launch of Jira 1.0. First employees — Mike and Scott's college friends.

-2003-
Confluence 1.0 is released. We hire our first U.S. employee, Jeffrey Walker.

-2005-
1,000th customer.

-2008-
Acquired Bamboo, Fisheye, Crucible, Clover, and Crowd to grow their suite of developer tools.

-2009-
First European office in Amsterdam.

-2010-
Bitbucket joins the family. Accel Partners invests $60 million in Atlassian.

-2011-
Atlassian Cloud is created.

-2012-
$100 million dollars of revenue without a sales team. Hipchat joins the family. Released Bitbucket Server.

-2015-
Atlassian goes public! (listed on the NASDAQ under TEAM).

-2016-
Statuspage joins the family.

-2017-
Trello joins the family.

-2018-
Opsgenie joins the family.

Some Interesting Jira Facts You Probably Didn’t Know!

Bugzilla – Gojira – Jira!

Like all great software products, the name JIRA originated within the company as an in-house joke. But, it wasn’t originally known as just “Jira.” 

At the start, the team behind Jira was using “Bugzilla” for tackling bugs, but engineers being engineers, decided to start calling the system by the original Japanese name for the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, or in Japanese “Gojira.”

When they got around to creating their own unique version, it was then that Jira started its life as Gojira. Soon Jira dropped the “Go,” and the King of Issue Tracking was born. 

Used by Fortune 500 companies 

Perfect for small and large companies alike, Jira is a one-stop shop with lots of choices for project management. That’s why it’s no wonder that the extensive system is in use by some of the world’s top companies. The exact number? 83% of Fortune 500 companies use Jira for their project management needs. Will using Jira help you get to the top? Who knows! But it certainly doesn’t hurt your chances.



What Does Jira Consist Of?

Atlassian’s basket is pretty full for your project management needs, here’s a run-down of how it looks and how you can:

  • JIRA itself is a massive platform that is fully customizable. It is great for organizing teams, projects, and initiatives. On the platform, PM and Agile leaders can observe and manage software backlog planning, latest releases, and overall progress. While Jira is a solid tool for businesses, it isn’t just for software developers; all types of companies can use it.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Confluence is a Jira plugin, designed by Atlassian. Simply put, it is a wiki or knowledge base. In Confluence, a team can store information and assets around the project they are doing in Jira, such as product requirements, meeting minutes, marketing assets, design documents, how-tos, and more. Confluence easily integrates with Jira so it almost feels like one seamless system.
  • Jira Service Desk is a digital customer service hub that allows your company to receive, track, manage, and resolve requests from your customers. Connecting and helping your customers becomes a simple process when they can connect with you via email, a customizable help center, or an embeddable widget. Once in the system, Jira Service Desk organizers and priorities your requests in a single place to allow your team to deal with the most pressing issues first. It is an alternative to Zendesk.
  • Atlassian Marketplace is a one-stop platform for buying Atlassian/Jira-compatible applications. The apps you buy in the Marketplace give added functionality to users or are applied as a connector to another Atlassian product or a third-party tool. Many of the apps were designed by third-party developers. Sometimes to meet their internal company needs, however, and then they grew to offer their services to others.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Bitbucket is an online web repository tool that allows users to manage their code in an online repository. Consider it the Jira alternative to GitHub.

‍🎓Note. When you start using Jira, you don’t have to get all the tools at once. Start simple and build your way up using only the software you need at the time.


How to Start Using Jira for Project Management?

Starting a new project in Jira

  • Log in to your Jira account or Signup Jira has a free tier or you can play with it for 7 days for free. No credit card, no obligations.
  • Create a project See that Jira icon in the top-left corner of your screen. Click it. Now select “Projects” and then create a project.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Try sample data You can create a board seeded with sample data to play with everything quicker. Although it is not where you would expect it. You can reach it from any existing board settings where you can select “Create new board”. It will then give you an option to “Create a Scrum board with sample data” and also create a new project with it.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Choose your project Jira template — Next Gen or Classic? Select ‘Next Gen’ for a reimagined simplified experience. Choose ‘Classic’ for increased customization and flexibility. More details are provided below.
  • Create an issue — Look at the left-hand side of your screen for a little “+” symbol or you might see the “Create issue” link inside the columns. Click it.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Create issues in bulk (with next-gen projects only) — Copy issues separated with a new line and paste them as a new issue title. Jira will suggest you create N issues instead of one. This feature isn’t available on Classic projects.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Import issues — When migrating from another issue tracker, you can export data to a CSV file and then import that file into your Jira Cloud. With the JSON import feature, you can import issues from external issue trackers that cannot be exported to CSV files.
  • Delete sample project — The steps are different for Classic and Next Gen projects. In Next Gen projects, you click “…” next to the project name in the projects list. Go to “Project Settings”, then click “…” in the header and finally “Delete project”. In Classic: click “…” next to the project name in the projects list and then click “Delete project” in the left sidebar menu.

Different Jira templates explained

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Project templates come with a lot of customizations that are targeted to how teams manage and track work. These not only come with specific Jira issue types but are also equipped with unique workflows and custom fields to help gather pertinent information.

For example, a Jira “issue” can mean different things to your team members. Software developers use epics, stories, and sub-tasks. IT helpdesk managers use tickets. But what do “issues” mean to a marketing or HR manager?

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Content management

  • Issue type: Asset
  • Custom Fields: Content type, Pub date
  • Use case: Before assets like blogs, presentations, and brochures get published, they must be created, reviewed, and approved by team members. Using the Content Management template allows teams to track the progress of work from to-do to published.
jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Procurement

  • Work item: Order
  • Custom Fields: Amount, Vendor, Account
  • Use case: This template is built specifically for finance and procurement teams to help track orders to ensure proper approval processes take place. Gotta stay within budget, right?
jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Recruitment

  • Work item: Candidate
  • Custom Fields: Hiring manager, Hiring department, Job role
  • Use case: Finding the right people for the job is a juggling act. Tons of resumes to screen, and everything that goes into keeping track of multiple candidates going through the pipeline. The Recruitment template helps track candidates and all the related elements like interview schedules and (endless) paperwork.

Next-gen or Classic projects?

The Next Gen projects are the latest project types in Jira Software. They are built with the most important features of Classic Jira incorporated. They also ensure that smaller teams in the eco-system can leverage the power of Jira immediately.

What’s the difference?

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Should You Use Jira for Project Management? What People Say

Deciding if you should be using Jira for project management? It can be a tough choice, especially with so many options out there on the market. At the end of the day, it will be up to you and your team to decide if it’s right for you. But here is what other people usually say:

Pros

  • JIRA can be used for multiple purposes. Companies can also use it in some non-standard ways for various business needs, such as warehouse automation, document flow, expenses optimization, etc. And, of course, JIRA is a great tool for project management.
  • There is a powerful Atlassian suite of products that can be easily integrated with JIRA and extend its initial functionality (Confluence, Bamboo, FishEye, Stash, etc.). Of course, there are many other products that have the same functions, but it is definitely more convenient and effective to use products from the same manufacturer.
  • JIRA is very customizable. Any company can customize the system to its business processes, even if they are quite unique in nature. Users can create varied workflows and tasks.
  • JIRA’s functionality is greatly increased by its plugins and add-ons. The system was specifically created to enable companies to develop special modules in Java and build them into the system. That’s why it has the additional functionality they need.
  • Atlassian has a very flexible price scale for JIRA licenses. While massive corporations with thousands of JIRA users will spend thousands of dollars annually, small companies will only have to invest a bit more than a hundred dollars while still receiving support and maintenance services from Atlassian [i]

Cons

  • You can become addicted to Jira and try to push everything into it. Sometimes, this leads to an extreme bureaucratization of activities, even those that are not useful to be written, tracked, etc.
  • Another negative aspect is the learning curve for non-tech people. If you use it for business-only purposes, it may need heavy customization to be simple enough for them; for example, with “simplification” plugins to strip out many unnecessary features. If this is the case, you can fall back to Trello and consider adopting JIRA in the future.
  • Support could use some improvement. Some customers say that sometimes to deal with critical issues they had to spend a lot of time exchanging emails and explaining to different people where the problem was.
  • Jira users are more than satisfied with its web version, but not so much with its mobile app. They complain about having to navigate a lot in order to do various tasks. In contrast, they can all do these actions smoothly in the web version.
  • UI performance can be improved. It still feels slow. JIRA is suitable for large projects with lots of custom requirements. For smaller projects, it’s worth something simpler, including Trello or Asana.

Read some feedback on Trustradius to find out what others are saying about Jira. Also, here is a good article about the 7 reasons using Jira can be frustrating and a little bit more over at TechCrunch.


Some Tips, Tricks, and Gotchas for Using Jira

In this extensive, awesome ecosystem, these are some of the best tips and tricks to help you in Jira.

Tweaking fields visibility on boards

Streamlining what your team can see on a board can help them keep focused on what’s vital, getting more done in less time. In short, it allows you to adjust the info seen in the task.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

To ‘Configure’ the issue field, here’s what you need to do:

  • Choose an issue.
  • Click ⚙️”Configure”. It’s at the bottom right of the issue modal.
  • Edit the fields to suit your needs.

Bulk change

In Jira, you can edit multiple issues at once using the bulk operation feature. This allows you to transition, delete, move, and edit numerous issues all at the same time. 

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Remember:

  • Before you begin, you’ll need to ensure you have the correct permissions for this operation.
  • Check your notifications. If notifications are enabled for tasks, this will inform other people involved in the task, and potentially your clients too. Many people say that Jira sends way too many email notifications.

Where to find the Bulk change feature?

  • Shift-click and Ctrl-click work as you would expect them to for selecting multiple items. Right-click and select “Bulk Change” in the menu.
  • Perform a search using the filters you require. This will generate a list of related issues. Now select “…” and then “Bulk Change.”

Making clones

Ever needed to create the same or a similar issue again and again? So have we. In Jira, the “Clone Issue” feature is a handy one to know to make a copy of an issue within the same project.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know
The time tracking block is not a standard Jira functionality. This is handled by the Jira time tracking plugin by Everhour.

Your clones issue will contain the same information as the original issue, including its summary, the versions it affects, components, and more. But it will not clone certain details, such as comments, work logs, issue history, etc.

Accessing the Clone feature is simple: 

  • Select and open the issue you want to clone.
  • Click “…” and then select “Clone”
  • On the Clone Issue screen, you’ll be able to personalize your clone.
  • Click on Create. And you’re done!

Jira shortcuts 

Jira’s “Z” shortcut, otherwise known as projector mode, is perfect for presentations. It helps adjust the screen to make the information you’re showing easier to see and more presentable. All you need to do is hit “Z” outside the text zones.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Tap it once to collapse your header
  • Twice for a high-contrast screen
  • Three times to go back to normal

“Z” is just one of many Jira shortcuts. In fact, outside of Jira’s main text areas, lots of your keyboard’s keys perform handy little functions, such as browsing to a project (g then p), moving to the next issue (j), logging a work issue (w), and much more. For a full list, find Jira’s shortcuts here.

Reduce the number of emails you get

Jira can send email notifications to users when significant events occur. For example, you will get a notification when someone creates or completes an issue, or when any of the issue fields have an update. If you feel you are getting spam, you should check your Notification scheme.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Jira is pre-packaged with a notification scheme called the “Default Notification Scheme”. All new projects have it by default. However, you can disassociate this notification scheme from the project or you can also modify this scheme. To check your notification scheme, go to “Jira Settings” > “Issues” > “Notification Schemes”

Create a filter and subscribe to it

Sometimes in Jira, it can be hard to understand what’s urgent and what can wait until tomorrow. To get a better view of what you should be focusing on, you can set a reminder (or two). Here’s how:

jira project management: here’s what you need to know
  • Create an issue in Jira and set a future due date.
  • Now, go to your tasks and apply a filter. For example, “issues due next week”.
  • Set a ‘Save as’ for this filter.
  • Now, add a filter subscription. 
  • This will send you an email reminder for tasks due.

Or you can create a filter that will select issues that were closed, say 1 week ago, and subscribe to it.

Join the community

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Even with these few pro tips above, it’s likely you will still run into a handful of difficult questions. That’s what community is for. Atlassian created and continues to support this ecosystem so users can find help and give help to others. It’s a robust platform with growing activity, one that is not available for every enterprise software. So take advantage and ask your peers.

Webinars 

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Alongside Jira’s huge ecosystem, the company has developed handy webinars to help its users get to grips with the more intricate elements of the system. Here you can find more top tips and problem-solving solutions for lots of Jira issues. 



Connect Jira to Other Apps 

About apps

An app (sometimes called an add-on or plugin) is an installable component that supplements or enhances the functionality of Jira. You can find lots of apps for extending Jira on the Atlassian Marketplace.

If you’re a Jira admin, you can find and try new Atlassian Marketplace apps right from the issue view. Click the “…” quick-add button under the issue summary and choose Add apps.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Non-administrative users can also discover apps in the Marketplace. But instead of installing them, however, these users have the option of requesting the apps from you, the administrator.

Most apps aren’t free. You buy an app by subscribing to it. To try or subscribe to an app, you click ‘Free trial’ next to the app. If you don’t terminate the trial within the trial period, a subscription for the app kicks in, and charges may occur. After starting a trial, you can stop it from the app administration page. Goto “Jira Settings” > “Apps” > “Manage Apps”.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Although you can re-enable the trial within the original trial period, you can’t try it again beyond the original trial period. At that point, you can only subscribe to the app.

‍🎓Note. The featured items at the top are often promoted tools that use Jira mechanisms and pay commission to Atlassian. Meaning, they’re not always in that position because of how cool they are.

Why add custom apps: Time tracking example

Jira does come equipped with its own basic time tracking, but it’s very simple and doesn’t suit the majority of companies. That is why there are so many custom time tracking add-ons available. To compare here is how native Jira time tracking looks and works. 

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

And this is how the Jira issue looks like after installing the Everhour Jira plugin.

jira project management: here’s what you need to know

Alongside controls that we add into Jira, you’ll be able to log work in Jira and get access to lots more functionality through our website. Here are some of them:

Time tracking:

  • Clock-in, clock-out, breaks: Used for tracking working hours vs project hours;
  • Time off: Tracking for vacation, sick, and other types of paid time off;
  • Timesheet approval: Useful if you need tighter control over edits;
  • Internal tasks tracking: Not everyone in your organization uses Jira. Make it easier to track stuff like #meetings, #training, etc.

Billing:

  • Budgeting: Know how you’re doing against the budget in real-time. Receive an email when you reach a certain threshold;
  • Flexible billing: Set up a proper billing method: project hourly rate, person hourly rate, or fixed fee.
  • Invoicing: Easily create an invoice based on tracked time and expenses;
  • Export: Connect with QuickBooks or Xero to sync your clients and copy invoices;

Reports:

  • Pre-set dashboards: Quickly evaluate what is going on in your team, and how everyone is performing;
  • Custom reports: Use filters, arrange columns, add conditions to get the reports you need;
  • Scheduling: See the progress of logged time vs. scheduled time;

And lots more …


Some Great Alternatives to Jira

Jira project management system might be the market leader when it comes to project management software, but it’s not the only one out there. If you remain undecided about which to use, consider these alternatives.

  • Asana – A project management platform to help your team organize, track, and manage their workflow. Available as a web and mobile app, Asana was founded in 2008 by ex-Facebookers Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein. It is super customizable, and repetitive tasks can be set. The downside? No multi-person tasks. With integrations galore, Asana is another project management leader. 
  • Basecamp – Basecamp helps you to manage your work, all in one place. Manage client projects, keep organized, and more. It has a simple interface making it easy for almost anyone to use. However things can get a bit cluttered over time, so you’ll need to pay attention to your task management system. Here is a short guide to project management with Basecamp.
  • Trello – This Kanban-style task-list-making application is another excellent project management tool. Actually, the company is a subsidiary of Atlassian (the guys behind Jira). But unlike Jira, it provides a task calendar and visual progress. Compare Trello with Asana.
  • Pivotal – An Agile project management system, like Jira, Pivotal is favored by software developers. It’s a pretty intense program, so it’s not for beginners, but provides an excellent solution for those involved in solving software issues. Here is a short Pivotal guide as well. 
  • ClickUp – Marketed as the “One app to replace them all”, ClickUp aims to make the world more productive with a complex system of tasks, goals, chats, and document storage. Among its users, it is favored for its ease of use. Although it has native time tracking, like Jira it lacks the complexity of systems such as Everhour, which allow much more personalization.

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How to Master Jira Capacity Planning https://everhour.com/blog/how-to-master-jira-capacity-planning/ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 13:16:00 +0000 https://everhour.com/blog/?p=22154 Jira is an advanced cloud-based project management tool that can help you conduct complex collaborative tasks. One of these tasks is Jira capacity planning. With this platform’s tools and features, it’s no wonder that this critical aspect of project management can be conducted and even refined on the Jira platform. If you want to learn […]

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Jira is an advanced cloud-based project management tool that can help you conduct complex collaborative tasks. One of these tasks is Jira capacity planning. With this platform’s tools and features, it’s no wonder that this critical aspect of project management can be conducted and even refined on the Jira platform.

If you want to learn how to get the most out of Jira for capacity planning, this article is for you. We’ll discuss everything you need to know about it (including Jira time tracking and our own Jira time tracking integration), such as the necessary concepts, best practices, and step-by-step process.


📝 What is Capacity Planning?

Regardless of what type of industry you’re in, your organization’s very existence relies on the fact that you can meet the demands of your target market. 

The thing is, there’s a demand that needs to be met at every stage of your operations. That’s why, when you’re conducting any type of business, it’s critical to be able to effectively prepare for the level of demand necessary.

This practice is called capacity planning – the process of determining how many resources are needed to complete a given set of tasks within a specified timeframe.

Given all your limitations, it involves calculating your maximum output ability (also called theoretical capacity) and your actual capacity to deliver. This, in turn, involves a complex assessment of resources, allowances, limitations, barriers, properties, and more.

Ultimately, capacity planning ensures that an entity, whether a company, team, or whatever, has enough resources to meet demand and execute its market strategies.


🗒️ Capacity Planning in Jira

Jira is a great tool for capacity planning because it offers a variety of features that can make the process easier, including:

  • Gantt charts: Gantt charts are a common tool used in capacity planning. They visually depict the start and end dates of tasks, as well as the relationships between them. Jira’s Gantt chart feature makes it easy to create and manage these charts.
how to do jira capacity planning
  • Issue dependencies: When doing capacity planning, it’s important to understand the relationships between tasks, also known as “issues,” since one task often affects the other. On Jira, this is called a dependency. The issue dependency feature lets you easily create and view these relationships.
  • Resource utilization reports: To effectively plan capacity, you need to understand how your resources are being used. Jira’s resource utilization reports can help you with this by showing you how much time your team is spending on each task.

❌ Weaknesses of Capacity Planning in Jira

Before you conduct capacity planning in Jira, you need to be aware of the following things that can still be improved on this project management platform.

⏳ Lack of in-depth time resource management

Unfortunately, Jira doesn’t offer comprehensive time tracking out of the box, which means you need to use separate Jira plugins for this specific function.

🕶️ Poor visualization

This is where visualization options can be extremely helpful. Sadly, Jira only offers Gantt charts, so you need to get a different plugin to provide you with options.

💸 Doesn’t have built-in financial features

On Jira, you can set billable and non-billable work hours, but that functionality is far from comprehensive. Again, you need to have a plugin that can allow you to do this.


🟩 Resource Capacity Planning with Everhour 

With the Everhour time tracker, you can efficiently conduct Jira resource capacity planning because it goes together with a time tracker. 

You don’t just set work hours every week – you also know what those work hours stand for and what your team can do with them in relation to your ultimate goals. Here are a couple of Everhour features that help you conduct capacity planning better.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 User capacity and limits feature

how to do jira capacity planning

Everhour allows you to set a weekly user capacity and time tracking limit for your team members. Capacity refers to how many hours each employee can work per week. Employee time tracking can help greatly when capacity planning because it helps you estimate your employee’s work time. For instance, you can set their capacity to 20 hours per week and limit their time tracking to just 20 hours, as well, to make sure that they don’t go overboard.

⏱️ Seamless integration to Jira

Aside from being a time tracker app, Everhour also serves as a great attendance tracker. Whenever a team member is doing a specific task, they can track their work hours directly from the Jira platform or their browser. Thus, you know when they’re working, what they’re working on, and how long it’s taking them. This allows you to grasp your team’s actual capacity better than just theoretical capacity, which you’re working with on Jira.


Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!


👓 Multiple Visuals

how to master jira capacity planning

With the Evehour timesheet app, you can use different visuals to grasp your team’s performance better. There are standard Gantt charts, but you can also use color-coding, Lists, Summaries, and more.

💲 Budgets and Estimates

One of Everhour’s best features is its financial management tools. Everhour understands the inherent relationship between work hours and financial resources: you simply can’t have one without another. It provides real-time tracking that shows you your actual capacity, giving you get a good grasp of how to estimate your project budgets.

how to master jira capacity planning

🗒️ Invoicing & Reporting

Additionally, this seamless time tracking allows you to send more detailed and more accurate invoices to clients, even when using the Jira platform. You can also use pre-set and custom reports to improve your overall Jira resource planning.

how to master jira capacity planning

📃 Capacity Reporting with Everhour

Although Jira can technically be used on its own for capacity planning, it’s better to use a work hours tracker or time clock app like Everhour if you want more comprehensive data. Everhour perfectly complements the assessment and projection portion of your capacity planning process because of its competent time tracking, visualization, and financial resources management tools.

With Everhour’s reporting features, you can track your team’s hours down to the last minute. This gives you much better figures to work with when capacity planning, allowing you to come up with a better resource plan and fulfill your team’s potential. Here are two specific Everhour features that allow you to create better, more accurate capacity reports.

✔️ Pre-set dashboards

Capacity planning requires that you have constant access to specific sets of information. And to save time, you need to be able to see this data at a glance. Luckily, Everhour’s pre-set dashboards can help with that. There are six main presets available.

  • Projects budget. Helps you identify aspects that impact your financial resources by allowing you to compare the budgetary needs of your current and future projects.
  • Projects costing. Shows you the projected costs of each project to help you better estimate profits and expenses during capacity planning.
  • Team hours. Helps you have a realistic baseline of your total capacity by showing you how much time your team spends on specific tasks.
  • Billability vs. utilization. It lets you compare labor costs versus the billable amount for each project over a certain period.
  • Payroll. Displays the amount that each member of the team is getting paid to help you budget your labor costs better.
  • Clients profitability. Shows you the billable amounts of each client and their total costs (usually the product of the number of team members working for them, their hourly rates, and their hours worked) over a certain period.

With Everhour’s pre-set dashboard capabilities, you can see all of the information you need before, after, and during capacity planning sessions.


✔️ Custom reports

how to master jira capacity planning

As great as pre-set dashboards are, sometimes you need more flexibility when working on your capacity planning. Custom software reports are often the only way to get all the information you need in one place. Fortunately, Everhour allows you to create reports with the maximum level of customizability. Here are the customization options.

  • Layout. This option lets you configure the overall appearance of the report, including columns, orders, groupings, and other customizations, which you can use if you want to display data in a specific way in your capacity report.
  • Period. Everhour’s custom report feature lets you select the time interval for your report, which can stretch from a few weeks to a few months.
  • Filters. You can apply multiple filters to show only what you want on your reports, such as projects, members, task status, iterations, tags, milestones, and custom fields. 
  • Sharing. The ability to facilitate seamless sharing of data is very important in teams. Everhour’s custom report sharing lets you decide on specific individuals with access to each report.
  • Formatting. This option lets you set conditions that emphasize or highlight data without removing other information from the report.
  • Settings. Aside from everything else mentioned, you can also use other settings to modify your reports.

With Everhour, creating complete reports that display all the data you want is very easy. You have to go to the Reports window and click Create Report to start working.


💚 Using Everhour for Jira Capacity Planning

It’s easy to use Jira for resource planning, but if you want to make it more effective, it’s best to use it with a plugin like Everhour. By nature, capacity planning requires that you’re in tune with your team’s hours and their usual output. With Everhour, you can do this seamlessly. You can even use its robust reporting features to further improve your capacity planning strategy.

Best of all, it’s not difficult to integrate at all. All you have to do is register to Everhour, set up Jira integration, and set up your team member profile and budgetary fundamentals. Does this sound exactly like what you’re team needs? Check out Everhour or schedule a demo now!

The post How to Master Jira Capacity Planning appeared first on Everhour Blog.

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