I need a way to experiment without affecting the live plan - what’s the best way to do that in Jira?

[sareha163]

Hi, I'm juggling multiple project plans in Jira, and it's getting overwhelming. Sometimes, I want to test different timelines, shift resources around, or see what happens if we adjust priorities, but I don’t want to mess up the actual project tracking. I need a way to experiment without affecting the live plan - what’s the best way to do that in Jira? Is that even possible?

[Sahir Maharaj · Accepted solution]

Hi @sareha163

I’ve been in that exact situation before, and Jira’s Advanced Roadmaps are great. The best way to experiment without affecting your actual project data is by using scenarios. (Think of them as sandbox versions of your project)

What I usually do is go into my plan, open the Scenario dropdown, and create a new one with a unique name and color (trust me, the color helps when you’re switching between them!).

From there, I start making adjustments, maybe increasing team velocity, moving a deadline forward, or testing what happens if we add more work.

The beauty of this is that all these changes stay inside the scenario until I decide to apply them to the live plan.

If you’re managing multiple project scenarios, this is hands down the best way to stay flexible without breaking anything

Here’s a quick tutorial that I thought will be useful: https://youtu.be/ots-jOtvtqk

Hope this helps! :)