Resolution Time Gadget in Jira: Smarter Ways to Calculate Time to Resolution with Time Metrics Track

[#1]

Resolution time is one of the most important metrics in any agile, support, or operations workflow. It’s the heartbeat of your issue resolution process - from the moment a ticket is created until it’s finally resolved. But here’s the catch: native Jira doesn’t tell the whole story.  

So, what if you could get deeper, clearer, and more accurate insights into how long it really takes to resolve work - without drowning in JQL or spreadsheets?

Let’s unpack why Jira’s built-in tools fall short, how Time Metrics Tracker | Time Between Statuses bridges that gap, and how you can leverage the Resolution Time Gadget to create real-time dashboards with actionable insights.
                      

🧩 What Is Resolution Time, Really?

Resolution Time is the total duration between the creation of an issue and its resolution - usually measured as the time to close, fix, or complete a task. It’s often seen as a measure of team performance and customer satisfaction, but it’s much more than just a number.

It reflects how smoothly your processes run, how responsive your team is, and whether blockers or delays are being handled effectively.

But let’s be honest - resolution time alone doesn't always tell the whole truth.

Does the clock keep ticking on weekends?
Did the issue sit idle for three days in a “Waiting for customer” status?
How much time was actually spent working vs. being blocked?

That’s why relying solely on Jira’s native reports can be misleading.

                         

🆚 Resolution Time vs Time to Resolution in JSM

In Jira and Jira Service Management (JSM), these two terms may sound similar but represent slightly different concepts depending on the context and tooling.

Term	Definition	How Jira Calculates It	Why It Matters	How Time Metrics Tracker Helps
Resolution Time	The actual elapsed time between when an issue is created and when it is marked as “Resolved” (e.g. status = Done, resolution set).	Based on system timestamps. No native breakdown by working hours, status groups, or stages.	Tells you how long the resolution process really took.	Time Metrics Tracker calculates it using workflow history, applies business-hour logic, and lets you analyze across teams, projects, or SLAs.
Time to Resolution (TTR)	A goal or SLA representing the maximum acceptable time for resolving an issue (e.g. within 24 hours). Often tracked in SLAs.	Tracked via SLA configuration in JSM; not based on status history granularity.	Helps measure SLA compliance. Was the issue resolved within target time?	Time Metrics Tracker doesn’t set SLAs, but it shows actual Resolution Time across all issues, so you can verify if your team consistently meets TTR goals.

• Resolution Time = what actually happened.

• Time to Resolution = what should have happened (goal).

Jira Service Management focuses more on Time to Resolution for SLAs, but often lacks clarity on what caused delays was the issue waiting on someone? stuck in review? assigned to the wrong person?

That’s where Time Metrics Tracker comes in.

With our Resolution Time Gadget, you get:

• Real-time data on how long resolution actually takes

• Filtering by issue type, team, or label

• Status-group breakdowns (Working vs Waiting)

• Exportable reports to spot outliers

• Business-hours calculations for SLA reality checks

🧠 Want to know why some issues took 3 hours while others took 3 days? The built-in JSM SLA metric won’t tell you, but Time Metrics Tracker will.

Who Needs to Track Resolution Time?
                 

Tracking Resolution Time is especially valuable for:

• Support Teams: to ensure SLA compliance and improve response times

• Engineering/Dev Teams: to evaluate delivery efficiency and release bottlenecks

• Scrum Masters & PMs: to track how long stories, bugs, or epics take to complete

• Legal/Compliance: to provide audit trails for how long tasks remain open

• Customer Success: to ensure client-facing tickets are closed quickly

• Ops & Procurement: to measure how long approvals or vendor tasks are stuck

In short: if your team is accountable for resolving work —-from helpdesk tickets to legal reviews - Resolution Time matters.

🧱 Native Jira vs Time Metrics Tracker

Feature	Native Jira	Time Metrics Tracker
Basic Resolution Time	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Custom Time Ranges	❌ No	✅ Yes
Business Hour Calendars	❌ No	✅ Yes
CSV/XLSX/JSON Export	❌ No	✅ Yes
SLA View (Weekends/Holidays excluded)	❌ No	✅ Yes
First vs. Last Time in Status	❌ No	✅ Yes

As you can see, Time Metrics Tracker goes far beyond Jira's native capabilities by delivering nuanced, calendar-aware, and status-specific breakdowns of resolution time.

🧮 How Resolution Time Is Calculated
                         

Resolution Time is the total time it takes from the moment a Jira issue is created until it is resolved (i.e. the issue is transitioned into a final status and a resolution is set).

Basic Formula:

Resolution Time = Resolved Date – Created Date

In native Jira or JSM, this is based on raw timestamps — which doesn’t account for:

• Business hours or holidays

• Waiting vs working time

• Back-and-forth transitions (e.g. reopened issues)

• Time zone differences

• Status-specific delays (e.g. "Waiting for customer")

So while Jira gives you the number, it doesn’t explain why it took that long.

✅ How Resolution Time is Calculated in Time Metrics Tracker

In Time Metrics Tracker | Time Between Statuses, we go deeper. Here’s what changes:

🛠️ Based on Workflow Transitions

Time Metrics Tracker uses the issue history (each status change) to calculate:

• Time spent in each status

• Time grouped into “Working”, “Waiting”, “Review”, etc.

• Total time from Created to Resolved (Resolution Time)

• Time in each status per entry (e.g. 3 times in “In Progress” adds up cumulatively)

🕒 Includes Business Hours

You can set Calendars to apply:

• Business hours (e.g. 9am–6pm)

• Workdays

• Holidays

• Time zones per team/project

That means no more inflated Resolution Time just because something was created on Friday night and resolved Monday morning.

Delivered in Dashboards

You can:

• Add Resolution Time Gadget to Jira dashboards

• Filter by assignee, project, issue type, sprint, etc.

• Visualize resolution time by issue or status

• Export reports for QBRs, audit logs, or performance reviews

Handles Reopened or Reworked Issues

Time Metrics Tracker counts total time across multiple cycles—not just the last status change - so you get an accurate picture even if issues bounce between “Done” and “Reopened.”

Example: Time to Resolution

Imagine you lead an IT support team. You need to present average resolution times by team and ticket type for your next QBR.

With Native Jira:

You pull a few filtered views, export to CSV, wrestle with pivot tables, and… still can’t tell how much of the time was due to waiting for customer feedback.

With Time Metrics Tracker:

You add the Resolution Time Gadget directly to your dashboard. It shows:

• Resolution Time per team (with average, median, and trend)

• Breakdowns by “Working”, “Waiting for customer”, and “Blocked” statuses

• Business-hour-based calculations that exclude weekends

No spreadsheets. No guessing.

Key Time Metrics You Can Track with Time Metrics Tracker

• Resolution Time: Total time between issue creation and resolution

• Cycle Time: Time spent from “In Progress” to “Done”

• Blocked Time: Time in statuses like “Waiting for Approval”

• Wait Time: Time in “Waiting for Customer” or “Pending”

• Assignee Time: Time each team member worked on the issue

• Time per Status: Full status-by-status breakdown

These aren’t just numbers - they help you:

• Identify workflow bottlenecks

• Improve SLA compliance

• Understand rework trends

• Justify staffing or process changes

💡 Who Needs This?

This gadget is ideal for:

• Support Teams → to track resolution SLAs and improve customer experience

• Product Teams → to evaluate development efficiency

• Compliance Teams → to prove timelines during audits

• Scrum Masters → to use resolution time as a sprint performance signal

• Project Managers → to improve estimates and planning based on real resolution data

What Can You See on a Resolution Time Report?

With a proper Resolution Time report, especially using Time Metrics Tracker, you can see:

• Total resolution time per issue, project, team, or user

• Breakdown by status (how much time was spent “Waiting”, “Blocked”, etc.)

• Business-hour accuracy — excluding nights, weekends, holidays

• Trends over time — see if your team is improving

• Team comparison — which team/assignee is faster or slower

• Outliers — spot unusually long resolutions and investigate why

This level of visibility helps you take action: reduce blockers, speed up approvals, and improve team performance.

🔥Save Report Views for Recurring Reviews

Just released: Saved Report Views in Time Metrics Tracker!

Now you can save and load custom views (e.g., “QBR – Resolution Time by Team”), share them across the org, and even pin them to your dashboards — no more re-setting filters every time.

✨ Final Thoughts

Tracking resolution time isn’t just about ticking boxes for SLAs. It’s about understanding why things take time and empowering your team to improve. Jira’s native tools give you a start, but Time Metrics Tracker helps you go deeper, faster, and more confidently.

So if you’re ready to stop guessing and start diagnosing — install the app, add the gadget, and watch the insights flow.

👉 Try Time Metrics Tracker | Time Between Statuses on the Atlassian Marketplace