Entry and exit criteria in columns

Question

Hi,

Does someone know if there is there is an add-on for Jira that enables us to define an entry and exit criterias on each column and show it for the team while working on the board?

I'm looking for something that provokes the following question on team members:

“Which criteria need to be met in order for me to move an issue to the next column?”

I know I can create validators that prevent an issue to be moved to the next column if a condition is not meet, but I would like to make the condition visible on the board so that people can be aware prior to moving the issue and be blocked if the condition is not met.

Many thanks,

Tomo Lennox · Answer

This is a clever idea for a few simple conditions,  but requires fields for every condition.  The exit conditions I want to use look something like this " 1) Design discussed with architect.  2) QA person signed up to develop automation, 3) Performance pre-test meets standards.  4) Demo meeting scheduled"  Do I have to make a field for each of those, and each of the conditions in the other columns?  And when I want to experiment with a change in policy, I have to add and subtract fields?  We still need a text box associated with each column that we can view and change quickly.  There is a big feature missing like one of these:  https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-66303,  https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRASERVER-66282, https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSWCLOUD-11390

scrumbun · Answer

This is a great idea! I'm glad you posted as I'm facing a similar situation.

Ignacio Pulgar · Answer

Hi Roberto,

I would suggest using swimlanes based on queries for that purpose:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftwareserver/configuring-swimlanes-938845294.html

The top-most swimlane could group all issues which were *ready* for the next column, and the JQL might concatenate all the required conditions per status, ie:

(Status = New AND "Story Points" is not EMPTY) OR (Status = Building AND timespent > 0)

Name that swimlane "Ready", with description "Issues that are ready for the next phase".

Likewise, create one swimlane for each column with a descriptive name and description of the required condition to advance, ie:

Swimlane name: Pending Estimation

Description: New stories need to be estimated prior to advance.

JQL: Status = New AND "Story Points" is EMPTY

Hope it helps.