What is the best way to setup JIRA for a Top-Down view?

[Corey Kelly]

My organization is building out Jira to manage operations and would like to use a format that enables the executives to have a high-level view of "where we are against our Board Directed Goals?"

We have several overarching Objectives that break down into smaller initiatives. Those initiatives drive each department leader to create epics that drive daily activities. We have a mix of Software Eng, Test, Product Mgmnt, and general daily operations.

My initial thought is to create a Program that houses the high level Objectives, then create plans that represent the Departments, and from there linked the boards for the individual's work streams for the team. 

Is that format logical? Do-Able? Or is there a better way to organize?

[Jack Brickey]

Hi Corey, welcome to the community.

It's hard to say exactly what the right approach is without understanding more about your business and more importantly your executives. However my first thought would be to build a dashboard that presents a high-level view of all the various initiatives/Epics. Have you played with dashboards as yet if not I encourage you to have a look. Here's some documentation that might assist you.

what-is-a-jira-dashboard