Work Linking Automation in Focus — Now Live! ⚡️

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Hi everyone,

We’re excited to share that the first automation in Focus, Jira Work Linking, is now generally available!

With this release, your teams can fully automate how Jira work connects to focus areas, helping you bridge strategy and execution faster than ever.

What’s new

You can now configure Jira Work Linking directly in the Jira Automation Platform, giving you powerful control over how Jira work items connect to Focus.

With this automation, you can:

• Automatically link Jira work items to focus areas based on criteria like:

  • Team

  • Assignee

  • Priority level

  • Work item type

  • Project

  • …and more

• Set up automations for as many focus areas as you need

This ensures your Focus view always reflects the latest progress from Jira — with no extra effort required.

Why this matters

Customers told us they wanted faster, streamlined ways to keep Focus in sync with Jira. With Jira Work Linking automation, you can now:

• Keep focus areas automatically updated with the latest Jira work

• Minimize manual effort and eliminate data mismatches between tools

• Free up teams to focus on delivering outcomes, not managing connections

How to get started

Jira Work Linking is available today for all Focus customers.

To set up your first automation, make sure you have:

• A Focus User role in Atlassian Administration

• Add work permission in Focus group permissions

• Appropriate Jira admin permissions (more info in the support documentation)

Then, configure your automation directly in the Jira Automation Platform — it only takes a few clicks!

👉 For step-by-step instructions, check out our support documentation.

Examples in practice

Here are a few ways teams are encouraged to use Jira Work Linking:

• Team-level automation: Automatically link Jira work items based on the assignee or team, keeping each focus area aligned with the teams driving the work.

• Priority-based visibility: Surface high-priority work in leadership focus areas to track key initiatives and progress.

• Multi-project automation: Use Global Jira Automation to connect work items from multiple Jira projects into a single strategic focus area for unified tracking.

Looking ahead

This release is just the beginning of automation in Focus. Coming next:

• Advanced linking for Work, Goals, and Ideas

• Automated notifications in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and email

• Proactive insights that help you identify risks and stay ahead of delivery challenges

💡 We’d love your feedback!

Tell us what automation use cases would make your team’s workflow even smoother in Focus.

Thanks for being part of the Focus community!

—
Angela Hawkins
Associate Product Manager, Focus