Can we configure our current Scrum project to use "Initiatives" as a hierarchy level above Epics

Question

Hi all!

Our company is working on a Scrum project in Jira Software (Premium plan) and wants to enable "Initiatives" as a hierarchy level above Epics. Currently, the project is set up as "Software Development > Scrum", and we cannot find the option to use Initiatives.

We would like to know:

* If it is possible to reconfigure our current Scrum project to support Initiatives.
* If not, whether we need to create a new project using the "Advanced Roadmap Project" template and migrate the current issues.

Thank you for your guidance on the best approach.

Trudy P Claspill · Answer

Hello @Juan Diego Nieto Hidalgo

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

Adding to what others have said...

What type of project are you using? Get that information from the Type column of the View All Projects page under the Projects menu. You can change the Issue Type Scheme for the project only if it is Company Managed. If it is Team Managed, you can't add the Initiative issue type to the project. 
- If it is a Team Managed project let us know and I will provide guidance for that option.

If the Initiative issue type does not already exist, and you are working with a Company Managed project:
- As recommended by @Michael Yaroshefsky - Visor for Jira you can create a new issue type named Initiative, add it to the Issue Type Hierarchy, and add it to your Issue Type Scheme for your Company Managed projects.

If the Initiative issue type already exists, check its location in the Issue Type Hierarchy.
- Navigate to
https://{yourBaseUrl}/jira/settings/issues/issue-hierarchy
Is the Initiative issue type already placed in the level directly above Epic? If not then Initiatives cannot currently be parents to Epics.
If the Initiative issue type is placed at some other level, changing its position to the level directly above Epic will affect all projects. It will break all parent/child relationships that currently exist in your instance where Initiative is either the Parent or Child. The Issue Type Hierarchy is a global configuration determining the parent/child relationships between issue types for all projects.

If the Initiative issue type already exists at the correct level but is not available in your Company Managed project:
- Follow @Michael Yaroshefsky - Visor for Jira 's advice to add it to the project's Issue Type Scheme.

Michael Yaroshefsky - Visor for Jira · Answer

Hi @Juan Diego Nieto Hidalgo and welcome to Atlassian Community!

Yep you can add initiatives as a hierarchy level in your current project. Here's how:

First create the initiative issue type in your Jira instance, instructions here: https://confluence.atlassian.com/advancedroadmapsserver0329/configuring-initiatives-and-other-hierarchy-levels-1021218664.html

Then in your existing project:

1. Go to Project Settings and click on "Issue Type" in the navigation menu
2.In the Issue Type screen, you'll see two boxes: one containing the current issue types for your scheme and another with available issue types
3. Drag the "Initiative" issue type from the available issue types box to your current scheme box
4. You'll then need to link the epics to their parent initiatives.

Hope that all goes smoothly.

If you want even greater customization over your Jira issue types and hierarchization, for example:

- Creating hierarchy levels above initiative (e.g. Strategic goal, project, program)
- Adding issue types for project portfolio management
- Creating different issue types or hierarchy levels for specific projects

Then check out Visor (our app) for greater flexibility over how your organize and visualize your Jira projects and portfolios: 
https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1226209/visor-spreadsheet-gantt-chart-for-jira-with-excel-export?tab=overview&hosting=cloud

Best
Mike

Dick · Answer

Hi @Juan Diego Nieto Hidalgo Welcome to the Atlassian Community.

you can change the issuetype scheme of the project to include the initiative issuetype.

If other projects use the same issuetype scheme, you should copy it first (save it under a different name), then set the projects issuetype scheme to the newly saved one.

Kind regards,

Dick