How to use Jira: a beginner’s guide

Jira is a tool for tracking tasks and managing projects. It helps teams plan work, distribute responsibility and control the completion of tasks. If you want to understand how to use Jira, start with its main features and how workflows are built.

Jira brings together team members, tasks and work tools. With it you can collect and organize problems, assign people responsible and track employees’ actions.

Many project managers, especially in software development and IT, use flexible management methodologies — Agile.

Jira supports various approaches to Agile, including Scrum, Kanban and the mixed methodology Scrumban.

The service offers work management tools that help teams interact at different stages of the life cycle of a product or service.

Jira features for project management

For project managers Jira offers several tools:

• Project templates that can be adapted to specific tasks.
• Configurable access rights that determine who can view information and perform certain actions.
• Reports to track progress, performance and the fulfilment of project requirements.

Jira tools can be used both when first getting acquainted with Agile and when you already have experience with flexible methodologies.

What Jira workflows are

Jira workflows reflect the sequence of actions adopted in a team.

They define the rules for moving tasks between stages and help control project execution.

A simple workflow can consist of three stages:

1. To do — the task is waiting for work to start.
2. In progress — the assignee is working on the task.
3. Done — the task is completed.

This sequence lets you track a task’s movement from setting it to completing it.

Workflows can be changed to match the organization’s requirements.

For example, if a completed task must go through an additional check, the corresponding stage can be added to the sequence.

How to use Jira to manage tasks

During project development it is important to systematically track tasks and the problems that arise.

In Jira you can create tasks for yourself and other team members, set deadlines and configure reminders.

Large tasks can be split into subtasks. This helps structure work and distribute it between assignees.

Team members can view tasks on the board and see the current status of each of them.

Jira also lets you record bugs, assign people responsible and set priorities.

When a task’s status changes, the system can send notifications to project participants.

Which fields Jira tasks have

The original description gives the following fields and default values.

Issue types:

• Task.
• Subtask.

Main fields:

• Summary.
• Issue type.
• Attachment.
• Due date.
• Description.
• Priority.
• Resolution.
• Labels.

Resolution options:

• Done.
• Won’t do.
• Duplicate.
• Cannot reproduce.

Priorities:

• Highest.
• High.
• Medium.
• Low.
• Lowest.

A project manager can change the default settings, add new issue types and create additional fields.

Using Jira for project management

Jira offers tools for different stages of a project — from planning to completion.

One of the platform’s strengths is Scrum support. If a team uses this approach, Jira can become a suitable tool for managing work.

The service’s functionality can be extended with additional apps from the integration directory.

The original article states that the price of Jira starts at $0 for teams of up to 10 people. Further cost depends on the number of users and the chosen features.

Jira can be useful for teams that need to control tasks, configure workflows and track the progress of projects.