Timeline. Gantt chart. Actual usage

[Tetiana Tuzova]

Hello!

In the Timeline section, there is a Gantt chart. Here, we can schedule tasks by specifying the start date and the due date. Could you please clarify if it's possible to track actual work performed in this section? We are using Tempo app and logging team members' time. I'm interested in how we can track both planned and actual task completion in Jira. If the actual dates change, does Jira automatically recalculate the deadlines for each task and the overall project completion date? Similar to how MS Project does it."

[Walter Buggenhout · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tetiana Tuzova,

The timeline is not a Gantt chart: it is a visual representation of duration of work based on the start and end dates of your issues and of links between work items (which you may interpret as dependencies).

Logging time does not move the end date of work. People tend to work on different things simultaneously and so the time needed to complete work (the actual "effort") is usually not a 1-1 match to the duration it takes. 

Hope this helps!

[Tetiana Tuzova]

Thank you very much for the answer. Could you please let me know if it’s possible to track task completion and plan vs. actual (similar to MS Project) in additional Jira apps? I would like to use the actual time logged in Tempo for this purpose.

[Walter Buggenhout]

Even if you log time in Tempo, this is also saved in Jira's default Timespent field. If you also add estimates in Jira (in the Original Estimate field), you can track what was estimated and spent, and even see the remaining estimate in the field with that name. All of that is built-in functionality of Jira.

There even is a built-in field called Workratio, that gives you the % of time spent vs the original estimate, which can be useful to locate issues that run over budget.

When it comes to tracking this across entire projects, you can go some way with saved filters and Jira dashboards that you put the above fields on. Or you could export to csv to report outside of Jira on the data.

Jira's premium plan with Advanced Roadmaps allows you to see the roll-up of all your issues' estimates across the hierarchy. On free and standard plans, you might be able to do similar stuff with an app like Structure, since you're already using the Tempo timesheets app (both are Tempo products).

[Mary from Planyway · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tetiana Tuzova 
As the addition to my colleagues' answers, I can say that if you're looking forward to get a visual representation rather than the report then you may try Planyway plugin. You can visualize real efforts vs tracked time on the timeline. As for the report, it's only possible to export this data to Excel/CSV. 

[Tetiana Tuzova]

Thanks a lot