Dates in timeline view - target dates vs real dates.

[Tatiana Torset]

Hello everyone!

While diving deeper in timeline view, I am exploring how to represent the dates in the most meaningful way. So here is the context:

We have some initiatives and some tasks connected to these initiatives. All tasks have/will have delivery tickets in Jira Software attached to them. I am struggling to meaningfully synchronise the target dates of the tasks with the actual dates when the Jira work items are finished.

I want to see when we plan to start and finish working on an item and when we actually finish working on it. 

Initially, all dates will be start date/target date set in JPD. What seems to be interesting to explore is overriding these dates for tasks when the work on delivery items actually starts and finishes.

I know that I can set synchronisation between the start/target date of an item in JPD with actual dates in delivery tickets. The problem is that when the first of the delivery tickets is completed (set to live), the target date of the JPD task is then updated to that date. And we have not yet even started working on other delivery tickets attached to this item. So it looks like the logic needs to be  "when the last delivery ticket is live, override the target date of the JPD task".

Is something like this possible? How are others using these dates and especially synchronisation with Jira?

Thanks!

[Kamila Czubaj · Accepted solution]

Hello @Tatiana Torset,

Do you link the ideas to delivery work items or Epics?

In the meantime here are few resources to check as well

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-Product-Discovery-articles/Product-demo-Automation-for-Delivery/ba-p/2057152

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-Product-Discovery-articles/New-Jira-Integration-Autofill-dates-in-JPD-from-linked-delivery/ba-p/2618305

Also, we are working on Better integration with Jira and automation platform, you can track the progress on that on our Roadmap: https://atlassian-product-managers.atlassian.net/jira/discovery/share/views/a0af4caf-5f1b-42be-8c57-24d1080122bc

[Tanguy Crusson]

Hi @Tatiana Torset , Kamila and I were just discussing this and we're not sure we understand what's missing. 

can you please have a look at this and let us know how your set up differs? 
Thanks!

https://www.loom.com/share/cbf92201cd5c4d19aad8baa294fe306d

[Tatiana Torset]

Hi Tanguy and Kamila,

Thank you for your replies!

Answering Kamila's question, I am linking JPD tasks to user stories or tech tasks, not to epics. And it is not Jira ticket due date I want to synch with, but the actual date the linked dev ticket went live.

I will look through the links that you suggested and try to figure out if I am missing something or if I was doing something wrong. Thank you again!

[Tanguy Crusson]

> it is not Jira ticket due date I want to synch with, but the actual date the linked dev ticket went live.

okay, that's where the problem is then. This feature was designed for when you use dates in Jira as due dates. So you can put your original high level estimate manually in JPD, but then it gets overridden by the new estimates the team makes as they work through delivery (to keep the plan honest).

For your use case I think you'll need to configure automation rules.

[Kamila Czubaj]

Do you have different field for due date and another for actual date went live?

How is this actual date being updated? 

Could you make a screenshot?

Thank you

[Tatiana Torset]

Here is how it is set now: 

[Kamila Czubaj]

As Tanguy replayed above, JPD checked the due date of the linked ticket, which is how the system was designed. However, since you are using a different field in Jira, it won't be visible here.

Please let us know if the automation solution will address your needs.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Tatiana Torset 

Considering the scenario you describe, I could imagine a view that optionally shows both the planned and actual time bars for a single Idea at the same time, perhaps distinguished by formatting of the bar.  I believe no such feature exists in the various, built-in views.

And, it appears you are using the built-in JPD timeline feature to synchronize / roll-up the dates from the linked Delivery Tickets, which has limited configuration options.  It does not have multiple field conditions (e.g., a  date field based upon the Status of a set of work items).  If the Atlassian team is working on such a feature, I hope they add a comment on your question.

Without seeing all the specifics of your scenario, I hypothesize one could use date fields alone, rather than synced / rolled-up dates, and use automation rule logic to set those dates.  That would require multiple rules to update the fields, and might be a brittle solution due to automation usage limits.

Kind regards,
Bill