How to Optimize Gmail to Jira Usage for Your Remote Team

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When working remotely, keeping up to date with tasks can be a little complicated, especially with different departments relying on specific tools to get things done. For example, your development team is all for agile methodology, and is well-equipped in using Jira for project management. Your sales and marketing teams, however, might know the tool, but aren't as prepared to use it like the development team. Instead, they're more familiar with using Google's apps, as many companies worldwide are. This could create a predicament. Whether it's affecting the workflow, or causing confusion between coworkers, it's not exactly ideal.

However, it doesn't have to be that way. You can combine workflows and operate better. That way, the development team can still work with Jira tools, and the rest of the teams can get more tasks done through their Gmail, without needing to continuously open Jira. This can be easily be done with a Google integration with Jira using apps such as Google to Jira - GTJ. But what can this integration accomplish? That's what we're about to explain.

Turn emails into Jira tickets

More often than not, remote teams receive inquiries and tasks through their email that should be turned into a Jira ticket. The emails might prompt them to create a task for them personally, or a task they should assign to a particular team member or even a different department. With a Google integration with Jira, they can create Google to Jira tickets from those emails and attach the content to them. Not only that, they can assign a person to the ticket and even create subtasks if the work will involve different tasks.

Stay apprised of ongoing tickets

When a Jira ticket is created from an email, it will be added to the issue backlog and be viewable by people on the team with access to a particular project. The team members can then leave comments on the issue on their opinions, or whether there are changes that need to be made. It is also particularly handy to recognize if more than one Jira ticket was created from the same email. With that, the team member can view related issues and be able to note if there are recurring problems. Or if there are Jira tickets from a particular client or team member. This will help organize similar tasks, as well as help the team member take note of tasks coming from a particular email.

Log work from Gmail

Not only can your remote team create Jira tickets from their Gmail, they can also log work straight from your Gmail or even from your Google Calendar. This is exceptionally useful when it comes to the various meetings the team members have to attend on a daily basis due to the nature of their work. This way, they can easily go to their Google Calendar, and convert their meetings and events into tickets in Jira. In addition to being able to actually auto-detect event duration and dates to log as work.

Share files with your team

One of the problems a team might face, is sharing files. Only, with Google Drive accessible to Gmail users, it's an easy fix! All you'll have to do is import them from your Google Drive, include them in a Jira ticket as an email attachment and simply upload it without any fuss. You can even attach more than one file! This can help team members share important information for a specific task or Jira ticket without needing to find an alternative.

Use it on any device

The best part about this Jira app integration is that it follows your team wherever they go, and wherever they choose to work. Whether it's on their phone, their tablets, or their laptops and desktop devices, the app will be fully-functional and accessible. For a team that's working remotely, not constricted to a particular location or device, the ability to work on the go can be quite freeing, and ease up the work process without killing their productivity.

Learn more about using Google to Jira - GTJ, here through this video.

Conclusion

Gmail is one of the most popular email providers in the world, and is widely utilized with tons of remote workers. When your team uses Gmail with Jira cloud plugins, they can stay on one platform, avoid human error, and spend more time focusing on their work instead of bouncing between two apps. Your team can save time by learning to create a task from emails they receive, collaborate on work, share files, and even ensure they can easily log their work, as well as the meetings they've attended.