Tips you should NOT follow for SLA management

[#1]

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a cornerstone of reliable support and service delivery. In theory, managing SLAs in Jira should be simple: define a target, track the time, and make sure issues are resolved on schedule. But in practice, many teams fall into the trap of following “best practices” that actually backfire.

From overly rigid goals to one-size-fits-all rules, these common mistakes can quietly erode performance, frustrate teams, and produce misleading metrics. 

Let’s break down exactly what you should do — if your goal is to fail your SLAs.

Yes, you read that right: TO FAIL.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the common practices you should avoid if you actually want to manage SLAs effectively.

🚫 Tip you should NOT follow #1: One SLA fits all

It might seem efficient to apply a single SLA rule across all issues in your project — less setup, fewer rules to manage, and everything runs on the same clock. Unfortunately, this is one of the most common traps in SLA management.

Different issue types, priorities, and requestors often require very different response and resolution times. Treating a critical bug from a top-tier client the same way as a low-priority internal task will either leave some users frustrated — or burn out your team trying to meet unrealistic expectations.

Instead, build separate SLA goals based on:

• Issue type (e.g., incident vs. service request)

• Priority level

• Request channel or customer segment

• Team handling the request

By customizing your SLA rules, you ensure that your metrics actually reflect service quality — not just arbitrary countdowns. It also allows for fairer reporting and better resource planning across your teams.

🚫 Tip you should NOT follow #2: Set aggressive goals to push the team

At first glance, setting extremely tight SLA targets might seem like a smart way to boost performance and keep your team on their toes. But in reality, overly aggressive goals often do more harm than good.

Unrealistic SLAs can lead to:

• Team burnout and frustration

• Corner-cutting just to “meet the number”

• Metrics that look good on paper but say nothing about service quality

For instance, setting a 1-hour resolution goal for all tickets, regardless of type or complexity, might pressure the team into rushing or marking issues as “resolved” before they’re truly complete.

Instead, focus on defining SLA goals that are challenging but achievable based on:

• Team capacity and workload

• Complexity of the request

• Available working hours and business calendars

Balanced targets help ensure your SLAs are not just met — but meaningful.

🚫 Tip you should NOT follow #3: Ignore what happens outside business hours

It’s tempting to keep things simple by applying SLA timers 24/7 — no calendars, no time limits, just raw countdowns. But if you ignore business hours, your SLA metrics can quickly become misleading or even meaningless.

Let’s say a ticket comes in Friday at 5:30 PM, and your team works Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM.
If your SLA is set to “resolve within 4 business hours” — but your system counts real-time instead — the SLA will be breached before anyone even sees the ticket on Monday morning. That’s not a fair reflection of performance.

SLA goals should reflect actual working conditions.
Otherwise, teams will constantly appear to miss targets they never had a chance to meet.

✅ What to do instead:

Configure business calendars in your SLA (you can set up and use custom calendars with additional plugins, like SLA Time and Report for Jira) to:

• Define working hours per project, team, or even region

• Automatically pause SLA timers during nights, weekends, and holidays

• Track performance based on when the team is actually available

So, business calendars ensure the clock only runs when the team is working. A support team in Berlin shouldn't be penalized for not responding to tickets that came in at 2 AM. This way, your SLA tracking becomes more realistic, accurate, and fair, especially in global or multi-timezone teams.

🚫 Tip you should NOT follow #4: Don’t bother with custom fields or filters

If you rely only on default fields like issue type or priority when configuring your SLAs, you're missing out on one of Jira’s biggest strengths — customization. Sticking to basic parameters might seem faster at first, but it limits your ability to track performance accurately and generate meaningful reports.

Modern support teams often need to track SLA performance using additional criteria, such as:

• Customer organization or service level

• Ticket complexity

• Assigned team or support tier

• Request channel (portal, email, integration, etc.)

Without using custom fields and smart JQL filters, you’re stuck with generic SLA rules and reports that don’t reflect your real processes. This severely limits your ability to analyze performance, identify bottlenecks, or make informed decisions.

💡 What to do instead: 

Use custom fields and advanced SLA conditions in a plugin that enhances Jira’s native capabilities — such as SLA Time and Report for Jira — to:

• Segment issues more precisely based on relevant business criteria

• Apply different SLA goals for different teams, clients, or request types

• Build powerful reports that show SLA performance from multiple perspectives — like Met vs Exceeded charts by organization, assignee, severity, and more

This level of flexibility turns SLA tracking into a strategic decision-making tool, rather than just a simple stopwatch.

By leveraging custom fields with SLA Time and Report for Jira, you gain the ability to design highly targeted SLA workflows, ensure fair metrics across different contexts, and give stakeholders the insights they actually need.

🚫 Tip you should NOT follow #5: Reports are optional

It’s easy to think of SLA reports as something you’ll “get to later.” After all, if issues are being resolved and the SLA counters look green, what’s the problem?

But here’s the truth: without regular, structured reporting, you’re managing blindly.

🛠 Example:

For instance, a team may consistently resolve tickets late on Fridays — but without reporting broken down by weekday or time, you'd never spot that trend.

SLA metrics aren't just about whether a goal was met or missed — they provide crucial insight into how your processes are actually performing. Without analysis, you can’t tell:

• Which teams or agents are consistently missing SLA targets

• Which types of requests take longer than expected

• Whether specific customers or projects experience more delays

• If your SLA goals are realistic — or overly optimistic

 Ignoring reports means missing patterns, bottlenecks, and early signs of burnout or inefficiency.

🎯 What to do instead:

Set up regular reporting routines using a plugin like SLA Time and Report for Jira, which allows you to:

• Break down SLA performance by team, assignee, project, issue type, or priority, etc

• Visualize trends such as Met vs Exceeded, create a pie chart, and visualize graph by custom fields (e.g., Organization, Severity, Complexity)

• Schedule a report and get continuous updates automatically.

• Add gadgets to Jira Dashboards to have the metrics you need at your fingertips

• Identify SLA breaches over time to spot recurring problems

• Share reports with team leads and stakeholders

Reporting isn't just a "nice-to-have" — it's your feedback loop. Without it, there’s no way to continuously improve your service delivery or prove SLA compliance to customers and management.

🚫 Tip you should NOT follow #6: Set it and forget it

Once you’ve configured your SLA rules, timers, and goals, it’s tempting to move on and never look back — especially if things seem to be working fine. However, treating SLA management as a one-time setup is a common mistake that can silently undermine your entire process over time.

Business needs evolve. Teams grow, support models shift, request types change and customer expectations rise. An SLA configuration that worked six months ago may already be outdated.

Without periodic reviews and adjustments, you risk tracking the wrong goals, applying irrelevant SLAs to new workflows and missing opportunities for optimization via automation.

Treat SLA configuration as a living system, and regularly:

• Review SLA goals to ensure they still reflect team capacity and business priorities

• Audit automation rules to ensure they support (not conflict with) SLA timers

• Update calendars when working hours or holidays change

• Test edge cases — e.g., new issue types, escalations, or multi-team handoffs

• Leverage automation to update fields, trigger alerts, or reroute tickets as SLA deadlines approach

With tools like SLA Time and Report for Jira, you can combine SLA tracking with rule-based automation and visual alerts, creating a dynamic system that adapts to your workflow — not the other way around.

💡 Bonus Tip: One “tip” that’s actually helpful

“Start simple, but make it scalable.”

One of the most valuable approaches to SLA management — especially if you’re just getting started — is to keep your initial setup simple but designed with growth in mind.

Trying to cover every scenario and exception from day one often leads to overly complex configurations that are hard to maintain, troubleshoot, or scale. On the other hand, setting up a basic SLA framework without thinking about the future means you’ll eventually need to tear it down and rebuild it.

✅ Here’s how to do it right:

• Start with core SLA goals that apply to your most common issue types

• Use clear naming conventions for SLA rules and calendars (e.g., SLA - Critical Incident, Calendar - EU Support)

• Organize your configuration with flexibility in mind — structure SLA conditions by fields you know may expand later (e.g., priority, customer tier, region)
  Plan for custom field usage and report segmentation from the beginning, even if you don’t use them all right away.
  

---

🚀Conclusion

SLA management isn’t just about setting a timer — it’s about building a process that supports accountability, clarity, and continuous improvement. When done right, SLAs become a strategic tool and your ally, helping teams deliver better service, keep customers satisfied, and reduce stress.

By avoiding the common pitfalls we’ve outlined, you create a solid foundation for a more transparent, scalable, and effective support process.

If you're looking for a solution that ties all of this together and truly simplifies your workflow, SLA Time and Report for Jira have you covered. With this powerful plugin, your team can:

• Create flexible SLA goals based on custom conditions

• Configure business calendars, automation triggers, and escalation paths
  

• Track performance through detailed, real-time reports

• Scale SLA tracking across teams, issue types, and customer segments — without losing control
  

Whether you're just getting started or scaling up, having the right tools can turn SLA management from a routine task into a real competitive advantage.

Take the next step — try SLA Time and Report for Jira and experience the difference.

What about you? Got any “bad SLA tips” you’ve seen (or maybe even followed 😅)? Drop them in the comments — let’s learn together!