What are workflows in Jira?
15 min
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:
- Describe common workflows
- Differentiate workflows in Jira apps
- Differentiate company-managed and team-managed workflows
Represent how your team works
All Jira spaces contain work items that your team can view, work on, and transition through stages, from creation to completion. The path that your work items take is called a workflow. Each Jira workflow includes statuses, transitions, and a resolution. Workflows should align with work processes within your organization.
👇 Here’s an example of a Jira workflow.
👇 Click the tabs below to learn more about the components of a Jira workflow.
A status represents the state of a work item at a particular point in the workflow. A work item can be in only one status at a given time, and each status should be unique. Statuses must describe what has already happened.
You can use default statuses, or create custom statuses.
👉 For example: In the workflow below, you can see the following statuses:
- Open
- In Progress
- Reopened
- Resolved
- Closed
The Resolution field is only available in company-managed spaces.
👇 Watch this video to see how to view a workflow and review some basic configurations.
Explore default workflows
Default workflows automatically come with a new space. They represent common business processes. You can use these workflows as they are or customize them to meet your space needs.
👉 For example: This is the default workflow for the Business Project Management template. It moves from To Do to In Progress (Start Progress), from In Progress to To Do (Stop Progress), from In Progress to Done (Done), from Done to In Progress (Reopen and start progress), and from Done to To Do (Reopen).
The default workflows and statuses available to each space vary by space type or app.
👉 For example: When you create a new software space, it will use different workflows than a service space.
Explore simplified workflows
The simplified workflow is a basic workflow that uses global transitions. Global transitions allow work items to transition from any status to any status rather than requiring them to move in a predetermined order.
👇This is the default workflow for a scrum software development space. You can see it has just three statuses and global transitions.
👇 Click the tabs below to compare simplified and custom workflows.
Every space created using a scrum or kanban template has a new simplified workflow. This workflow uses global transitions, has no transition screens, and has no conditions applied to its transitions.
👇 Watch this video to learn more about simplified workflows and some basic configurations.
Compare workflows in company-managed and team-managed spaces
Workflows are slightly different in company-managed and team-managed spaces.
👇 Click the tabs below to explore the differences between space types.
Jira admins control workflows in company-managed spaces. Space admins can only configure how the workflow appears in the board by associating statuses with columns. Space admins can’t add or delete statuses, or configure transitions or any other workflow behavior.
In company-managed spaces, workflow schemes determine which workflow each work type uses. Multiple company-managed spaces can use the same workflows and schemes. Again, only Jira admins can configure workflow schemes.
Company-managed spaces can use transition screens in a workflow to require users to enter data when transitioning a work item. Jira admins configure transition screens.
In company-managed service spaces, you can use templates to create workflows for request types.