Creating Custom Time-Based Dashboards in Jira with Time Metrics Tracker

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Jira is one of the most powerful tools for managing software development and delivery. But when teams start asking deeper questions:

Where exactly are we losing time?
Why do bugs get stuck?
How predictable is our delivery? 
Jira’s native reports often don’t go far enough.

That’s where time-based dashboards come in.

In this article, we’ll explore:

• What Time Metrics Tracker  is and why it exists

• Why time-based metrics matter more than ever

• How custom dashboards help teams see real bottlenecks

• What makes Time Metrics Tracker different from Jira’s built-in reports

• How teams use it in real workflows

• And why installing a trial is often the fastest “aha” moment

                         

If you want Jira dashboards that show how work really flows — not just where it ends up, this guide is for you.

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Why Time-Based Metrics Matter in Jira

Most Jira dashboards focus on counts:

• Number of open issues

• Issues resolved per sprint

• Backlog size

• Velocity

These metrics answer “how much”, but not “how long”.

Time-based questions sound more like this:

• How long do bugs stay in In Progress before moving to QA?

• Where do issues wait the longest?

• How much time is spent actively working vs. waiting?

• Which workflow stage is slowing releases down?

• Are we improving cycle time or just moving tickets faster?

Without time in status and time between statuses, these questions are almost impossible to answer accurately.

                           

What Is Time Metrics Tracker?

Time Metrics Tracker (Time Between Statuses) is a Jira Cloud app that measures how long work items spend in each stage of your workflow and how long transitions actually take.

Instead of guessing or exporting data to spreadsheets, Time Metrics Tracker automatically calculates:

• Time in Status

• Time Between Statuses

• Cycle Time

• Lead Time

• Wait Time

• Resolution Time

…and makes those metrics available in reports, dashboards, and issue-level views.

In short:

Time Metrics Tracker turns Jira status changes into actionable time insights.

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Key Definitions (So We Speak the Same Language)

Before we dive into dashboards, let’s clarify some core concepts.

Time in Status

The total amount of time an issue spends in a specific status (e.g., In Progress, QA, Blocked).

You can measure:

• First time in status

• Last time in status

• Total time across all transitions

Time Between Statuses

The duration between two workflow statuses (e.g., In Progress → QA).

This helps teams understand handoffs, delays, and workflow friction.

Cycle Time

Time from when work starts (often In Progress) to when it’s completed (Done).

Lead Time

Time from issue creation to completion.

Wait Time

Time when work is not actively progressing — often hidden in statuses like Waiting, Blocked, or Backlog.

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Why Jira’s Native Dashboards Fall Short

Jira offers useful reports like:

• Control Charts

• Cumulative Flow Diagrams

• Basic dashboards and filters

They’re great for high-level trends, but they have limitations:

• ❌ Limited visibility into individual workflow stages

• ❌ No flexible “first / last / total time” logic

• ❌ No clear breakdown of waiting vs. active time

• ❌ Hard to customize for different teams or workflows

• ❌ No real-time, status-to-status duration insights

For operational decisions — especially around bugs, delivery, and flow efficiency — teams need more precise time metrics.

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Building Time-Based Dashboards with Time Metrics Tracker

This is where Time Metrics Tracker truly shines.

Step 1: Define Your Work Schedule

Time Metrics Tracker lets you calculate metrics based on:

• Calendar time

• Business hours

• Custom work schedules (including holidays)

This ensures your dashboards reflect how your team actually works, not just clock time.

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Step 2: Choose What You Measure

You can configure reports and dashboards to track:

• Time in specific statuses (e.g., QA, Review, Blocked)

• Time between key transitions

• Cycle time per issue type

• Lead time per project

• First vs. last time in status (great for rework analysis)

                         

This flexibility is critical for accurate dashboards.

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Step 3: Visualize Metrics with Jira Gadgets

Time Metrics Tracker provides dedicated dashboard gadgets, including:

Scatter Plot Gadget

Spot Outliers and Stuck Issues Instantly

Scatter plots are one of the most underrated — yet powerful — visualization tools for time-based analytics.

What it shows

Each dot represents a Jira issue, plotted against:

• Time in Status

• Cycle Time

• Lead Time

This immediately reveals:

• outliers

• unusually slow issues

• hidden bottlenecks that averages don’t show

Why it matters

Average metrics can be misleading. One or two extremely slow bugs can:

• block releases

• inflate cycle time

• hide systemic problems

Scatter plots make those issues impossible to ignore.

Common use cases

• Identify bugs stuck in QA far longer than others

• Detect tickets that break SLA expectations

• Find rework patterns (issues bouncing back and forth)

• Focus retrospectives on specific problematic issues

👉 Instead of asking “Why is our average cycle time high?”, teams ask:
“Why are these exact 5 issues so slow?”

That’s a huge shift.

WIP Run Chart Gadget

See How Work-in-Progress Affects Flow

Work-in-progress (WIP) is one of the strongest predictors of delivery speed — and also one of the hardest things to visualize properly.

What it shows

The WIP Run Chart tracks:

• how many issues are in progress

• how WIP changes over time

• how WIP correlates with delays and bottlenecks

Why it matters

High WIP almost always leads to:

• longer cycle times

• context switching

• more waiting and rework

But without visualization, teams often feel the pain without understanding the cause.

How teams use it

• Validate WIP limits

• Compare sprint-to-sprint flow

• Identify overload periods

• Support data-driven process improvements

Instead of debating opinions in retrospectives, teams can say:

“Every time WIP goes above X, cycle time increases.”

That’s actionable insight.

Agile Metrics Dashboard

A Flow-Focused View of Your Delivery

The Agile Metrics Dashboard brings multiple time-based metrics together into a single, coherent flow view.

What it includes

• Cycle Time trends

• Lead Time trends

• Time in Status breakdowns

• Distribution charts (not just averages)

Why it’s different

Most dashboards focus on output (how much was done).
This one focuses on flow (how work moves through the system).

That distinction is critical.

Who benefits most

• Engineering managers

• Product managers

• Delivery leads

• Agile coaches

This dashboard answers questions like:

• Are we becoming more predictable?

• Which workflow stages slow us down the most?

• Are recent process changes actually helping?

Color-coded warning and critical thresholds make delays instantly visible — no spreadsheet required.

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Real-World Dashboard Use Cases

Bug Resolution Dashboard

• Time in In Progress

• Time in QA

• Time between Open → Done

• Highlight bugs exceeding SLA thresholds

👉 Perfect for QA leads and engineering managers.

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Delivery Predictability Dashboard

• Average and median cycle time

• Trend of lead time over time

• Outliers that break predictability

👉 Ideal for product managers and delivery teams.

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Bottleneck Detection Dashboard

• Compare time spent in each workflow stage

• Identify where issues wait the longest

• Validate whether process changes actually help

👉 Great for continuous improvement and retrospectives.

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Why Teams Choose Time Metrics Tracker

Teams often start with manual tracking or exports to Excel. But as projects grow, that approach breaks down.

With Time Metrics Tracker, teams gain:

• ✅ Real-time insights — no manual exports

• ✅ Accuracy — metrics based on actual Jira transitions

• ✅ Scalability — works across teams and projects

• ✅ Transparency — dashboards anyone can understand

• ✅ Actionability — spot problems before deadlines slip

Or put simply:

Less reporting. More understanding. Faster improvement.

From Dashboards to Better Decisions

Dashboards aren’t just about visibility — they’re about behavior.

When teams can see:

• where work slows down,

• how long bugs really wait,

• and which stages cause delays,

they stop guessing and start improving.

Time Metrics Tracker doesn’t replace Jira — it unlocks its hidden time dimension.

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Ready to See Your Workflow Clearly?

If you’ve ever asked:

• Why are our bugs taking so long?

• Where is work actually getting stuck?

• Are we really improving delivery time?

…then it’s time to try Time Metrics Tracker

👉 Install the free trial from the Atlassian Marketplace, build your first time-based dashboard, and see your workflow in a completely new way.

Sometimes, one clear dashboard is all it takes to change how a team works.