Sub-epics.

Question

In my company, we have some "super"epics that span a lot of tasks and, for some of them, thousands of estimated work-hours.

In these epics, we have some larger tasks (with subtasks). Some of these tasks cannot realistically be planned into a single sprint

Now, I understand that Jira does not want to allow adding subtasks to a sprint without adding the parent task.

So my question is this: How can I organise my project, so that I can have something conceptually equal to a "sub-epic", i.e. a kind of epic or story that (a) contains tasks, (b) somehow is part of or links to an epic, and (c) can span several sprints?

We are using OnDemand

Kim Poulsen · Answer

Maybe you can use the "version" field for these super epics, epics as - well - epics, stories and sub-tasks for the breakdown of the epics.

Versions are nice in the way that you can also get the progress of a version on a chart and see the progress on the project home page.

Mads B · Answer

That is an option (or maybe a label). I think it falls short in some areas, however:

* With epics (and tasks containing subtasks), it is easy to track progress of the epic/task. With a component, it can be done, but requires some jql filtering etc.

* The most important: In most cases, it is impossible to describe the wanted functionality of the subepic in the length of the component/label. There is nowhere to discuss/comment on the sub-epic if it is a compent.

So I am looking for a way to do this using an actual epic/task/story for the sub-epic

Surely, many companies need to have stories that span multiple sprints, and that also are part of a bigger story?

Timothy · Answer

Have you considered using the Component field as the "sub-epic"?