Best Setup for Managing Multiple Teams with a Single Backlog in Jira

[João Correia]

Hello Atlassian Community,

We are in the process of optimizing our Jira setup for managing multiple teams and would appreciate your thoughts and experiences. We have a single backlog in a single project containing all items to be developed, and 8 different teams working on various parts of the product. Our goal is to maintain an organized structure while giving teams the autonomy to work independently.

Specifically, we are considering the following:

1. Single Backlog, Separate Boards:

   • We want to keep a single backlog that contains all work items but have a separate board for each of the 8 teams.
   • Is this a good approach to ensure clarity and focus for each team?

2. Sprints: Separate or Shared?

   • Should we have separate sprints for each team so they can start and end their work independently (which we believe would be ideal)? Having 8 separate sprints means that in our single Backlog will have at least 8 sprints showing up.
   • Or is there a reason why it might be better to have a single, shared sprint across all teams, even though each team will work on different items?

3. Assigning Tasks to Specific Teams:

   • How do you manage which tasks or issues should be assigned to which team, especially when the backlog is shared across teams? Do you have specific criteria or tags to help with the assignment process? We currently use the Team field.
   • In particular, how do you handle cross-functional or ambiguous tasks? Is there a clear ownership process in place?

4. Managing Production Bugs:

   • How do you handle production bugs? How do you decide which team is responsible for fixing a production issue?
   • Do you have a system in place for prioritizing and assigning production bugs, or do you manage it on a case-by-case basis?

We are leaning toward separate sprints for each team, and we have some ideas about managing bugs, but we’d love to hear from others who have faced similar challenges. Any best practices, pros/cons, or lessons learned would be really helpful!

Looking forward to your feedback!

[Danut M _StonikByte_]

Hi @João Correia,

It is OK to use a single project, but you will need the Components or the Team custom field in Jira for assigning the tasks to each team. This field should be required/mandatory in Jira issue screen.

You can use a single board to maintain the backlog, You could add Quick Filters to the board; a quick filter for each team, so you can easily filter/visualize only the issues of a specific team. This will be helpful during the sprint planning meeting, when team makes the commitment and prepares the sprint backlog.

You can use one global sprint, or multiple parallel sprints. I think both options will work, but the second one offers more flexibility to the teams and does not create cross-team dependencies. It is important to have the sprints aligned (same start/end date) to be able to track the progress.

Regarding production bugs, there should be one single entry point for production bugs. You can have someone responsible for routing the incoming bugs to a team (by setting the Team field), or you can implement automating routing (based on other field, like Components).

In such environment, tracking the progress can be challenging. My advice is to use Jira dashboards for tracking the progress: one dashboard for tracking progress overall, one dashboard for each team to see the status/progress for that specific team. For this you can use Jira gadgets in combination with gadgets offered by 3rd party apps from Atlassian Marketplace. See this article I wrote, with examples of such dashboard created with our Great Gadgets app: 

• How to track scaled-agile (SAFe) projects in Jira with Great Gadgets app (to track development along the sprints)
• Building a powerful Kanban dashboard in Jira with Great Gadgets app (these gadgets are helpful for tracking production bugs for each team)

Danut,   

[Ashish Bijlwan]

Hi @João Correia 

Welcome to Atlassian Community!

Please find below:

1. Single Backlog, Separate Boards

Approach: Having a single backlog is an excellent approach to ensure that all work items are visible and consolidated. This is ideal because it gives you a centralized view of all tasks across teams, which helps prevent silos and enables better prioritization.

 However, each team having separate boards provides clarity and focus for the individual team members. The boards can be filtered based on specific criteria (such as team, component, or custom fields like the Team field) to ensure each board only displays relevant work items for that team.

 Best Practice:

•  Use Quick Filters on each board to show only the work relevant to a particular team.
• Ensure each team board is set up with appropriate swimlanes (such as by team or priority) to improve visualization of their work.
• Use components or labels to further segment work items by team.

2. Sprints: Separate or Shared?

Separate Sprints (Recommended): It's generally a better practice to have separate sprints for each team, especially if teams work at different paces or have different sprint goals. This allows each team to independently start and end their sprints, providing flexibility for different workflows.

 With separate sprints:

•  Teams can move at their own pace and adapt their velocity based on their capacity.
• The backlog will display multiple sprints, but this won't affect visibility as long as the board filters are set up properly.
• Teams can use custom fields like Team or Sprint to filter and organize backlog items for better prioritization.
• Shared Sprint (Less Ideal): Having a shared sprint across all teams can work if the teams are very closely aligned and working on the same project or feature set. However, this can lead to confusion in terms of team focus and lead to difficulty in managing the flow of work between teams. A shared sprint may be problematic if teams have drastically different work types or velocities.

 Best Practice:

•  Use separate sprints if team needs differ.
• If you do go for a shared sprint, set clear guidelines around task assignment to teams and team-based filters to avoid confusion.
• Consider a cross-team sprint if the work overlaps across multiple teams in a single sprint but ensure you have clear responsibilities.

3. Assigning Tasks to Specific Teams

Managing which tasks are assigned to which team can be handled with a combination of fields and filters in Jira:

 Best Practice:

•  Use the Team field (which you are already using) for task ownership. This allows each item to be assigned to a specific team, and you can easily filter the backlog for work items assigned to each team.
• Custom Fields: Consider using custom fields like Component or Label to further differentiate tasks by function or type of work (e.g., development, QA, etc.).
• Automations: Set up Jira automations to assign tasks based on certain criteria, such as a task type, team name, or project.
• Clear Ownership for Ambiguous Tasks: For cross-functional or ambiguous tasks, create a process where these tasks are reviewed by a cross-functional team or an epic owner (someone responsible for ensuring the task is routed correctly). Use status labels or a "triage" phase to help clarify ownership.
• Workflows: Design workflows that trigger notifications or field updates when tasks are assigned to different teams to ensure proper tracking and accountability.

4. Managing Production Bugs

Managing production bugs is an important process. Typically, production bugs require fast response times, clear ownership, and prioritization.

 Best Practice:

•  Create a dedicated board or filter for production bugs so they can be tracked separately from feature development. You can have one central backlog, but use filters or dedicated boards to ensure they get quick attention.
• Use the priority field and custom labels (such as Production Bug) to ensure these bugs stand out in the backlog.
• Assign bugs based on expertise: Depending on the type of bug (e.g., front-end, back-end, infrastructure), assign the bug to the appropriate team. Ensure the Team field and Components are correctly utilized to indicate which team owns the bug.
• Consider setting up SLAs (Service Level Agreements) for bug resolution to ensure timely fixes.
• For critical bugs, set up automation rules to automatically notify relevant teams or escalate issues based on certain criteria (e.g., severity, environment).
• Consider triaging production bugs before assigning them—this could be done by a designated individual or a small cross-team group who reviews and assigns the bug to the appropriate team for resolution.

Thank you,
Ashish

[João Correia]

Hi @Ashish Bijlwan 

Thank you so much for your response!

We currently have over 1000 open work items in our backlog, and it's becoming challenging to effectively manage and prioritize them. I would like to get your insights on the best way to assign tasks to teams. Given that any team can pick up a work item, what strategies do you recommend for ensuring tasks are assigned and managed efficiently?

Additionally, regarding the single backlog: If all items are in one backlog, they show up under different sprint tabs, which isn’t very user-friendly. How would you recommend setting up a filter or view for the backlog to make it more manageable and clear for teams?

Thanks again for your help, look forward to your thoughts!

[Ashish Bijlwan]

Hi @João Correia 

Strategies for Assigning Tasks to Teams

• Prioritization Framework: Implement a prioritization framework like MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) or RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) to help teams focus on the most critical tasks.
• Team Specialization: If possible, categorize tasks based on team expertise or specialization. This ensures that tasks are picked up by teams best suited to handle them.
• Regular Backlog Grooming: Conduct regular backlog grooming sessions to reassess priorities and ensure that the backlog is up-to-date

Managing a Single Backlog Efficiently

• Quick Filter: Create quick filters using fields such as Team (which you are already utilizing), Component, and Labels to effectively display backlog items based on these filters.

• Epic: Organize related tasks into epics to offer a comprehensive overview of the work, simplifying management and tracking.

Thank you,
Ashish