What is the best practice for setting up internal documentation requests through Jira Service Desk?

Question

Hi there and thanks in advance for reading and responding!  Any and all input is welcome!

Our company just started with Jira Cloud.  We have an internal Jira service desk project for DevOps Requests, General IT Requests (Issue Type = System Service Request) as well as Security Incidents (Issue Type = System Incident)

I'm on the IT team and, as a technical writer, I need to create a process for internal employees to request documentation (articles and videos).  This could be training docs, onboarding docs, knowledgebase docs, technical docs, user videos etc. Note: we do not yet have a Confluence knowledgebase linked to our internal or external service desks, but plan to create those.  So....It would be easy enough to add a request type like "Documentation Request", but I don't understand whether it would be more useful to create a new issue type instead.  I'd like the requests to be visible to the IT team (and my manager for his initial approval) but for those requests to then populate a kanban style board (possibly Jira Work Management or Trello?) where my teammate and I can assign subject matter experts and track progress and publishing info.  So the workflow will be different for these documentation requests (and take much longer probably).

How do you guys handle documentation requests? Any suggestions?

Thanks again,

Tori

Tori Sampsell · Answer

Hi Stephen (Ste),

Thank you very much for your reply!  Yes, your summary of my requirements is correct.  However,  in the Options section you call out items that I think are really important considerations.

* My thought is that the issues/requests will get submitted (front door) and closed in JSM, but the bulk of the work will get done in a separate project.* Example:  one request could be 'create a new product guide for admin configuration'.  -this will take a ton of work and require various contributions by different SMEs that are not JSM agents

* So my manager would need to approve that request, but it could be that he just assigns it to me or my colleague versus a formal approval and since these are internal requests, there is flexibility on where/how the requestor (internal customer) is notified.* Worth noting though, that a documentation request could come in originally from an external customer and be submitted as a linked issue by a JSM support agent from our external portal. We have two JSM projects currently - one is internal (IT) and one is external.  I'm not sure how this could work.  Example:  Client submits request to external portal for 'better webhooks documentation', external JSM agent links issue to internal JSM project to create new request, this gets cloned to documentation project and when completed needs to update all?

* To your last point in Option section, I am worried about what I don't understand related to Issue Type versus Request Type.  Is there a default knowledgebase Issue Type in JIRA?  I saw a thread about it somewhere, but don't see it in our list.  I have a sense that the workflow could be different for a documentation request versus a general IT request, but don't know how to surmise that.

I really like the view/suggestions you outlined and feel (somewhat) comfortable testing that out so thank you again so much.  I just don't know how to set up automations yet and am concerned that if we actually need a new Issue Type versus Request Type then I'll have mucked things up.  Basically, I don't know what I don't know :)

Please let me know your thoughts on my expanded info.

Best,

Tori

p.s. - Set-up Instructions would be greatly appreciated - thanks for the offer!!

Ste Wright · Answer

Hi @Tori Sampsell

Reading your requirements above, I'm surmising...

* Once a request is raised, it needs to be visible internally for IT and your manager
* Your manager needs to approve requests prior to them being actioned
* You might want to pass these requests into a different Project (or at minimum, show them on a Kanban Board to be worked on)
* Your workflow for these requests might differ to other work being done - DevOps requests, general IT requests, etc

...does this sound correct?

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There are options here, and below I'll provide my view - but you'll need to decide...

* Do the requests get tracked/closed within Jira Service Management, or is the bulk of the work done in a separate Project?* For example, if some users who will work on the tickets are not JSM Agents, this might be necessary

* Does your manager need to approve the requests for customers to see? If yes, then using an approval-based workflow would be necessary
* If you're tracking the work in a separate Project, can you use an existing Workflow in JSM - and just have a different Request Type? Or do you need a new Issue Type, Workflow, etc?

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Based on your needs, this is my view:

* Use Jira Service Management as the "front door" for these requests, but use a separate Project in Jira Software or Jira Work Management to track the progression of the work
* This will likely let you use an existing Issue Type and Workflow in JSM, and mean you just need to create a new Request Type
* Clone the requests into the separate Project using Automation - you can also use Automation to auto-update the two requests (eg. user cancels requests, or when you complete a document)
* Get your manager to approve/reject requests in JSM - this will inform the customer of the approval/rejection prior to your team commencing work

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Let us know your thoughts on this!

And if you need any instructions on how to set things up, let us know also!

Ste