The best way to organize tasks in project

[a2mun]

I have some questions in how JIRA should be organized for our types of projects. We do web development work and for most tasks there is Front-End work, Back-end Work, QA testing, then internal review, then client review, then publishing. There is also some tasks that come in from our customers that don't require all parts of this process, some just require back-end or just front-end. 

When we go through the process things go from one of these phases to another regularly, so QA will find something, then it will go to Back-end fix or Front-end fix, etc. 

I am trying to organize JIRA so that we have a scalable process as we grow. I’m not sure if it’s best of have these as workflow states or as sub tasks.

There seems to be pros and cons to either instances. With states it’s all in one place and it naturally seems to make sense and flow together. However, this makes it hard to put estimations on tasks and I’m not sure how we can get data on what’s done by who. This makes it impossible to do reporting and to put it nicely in Agile boards. Also, with this the workflow is very long and it can be very annoying to transition things from one state to another. 

The other alternative is to create subtasks for each step in the process. This requires a lot more work on the upfront and also seems kind of strange. So then we would a general task that would be assigned to project manager or who? We would also then have subtasks for each step in the process like back-end and QA. But then what happens if QA finds bugs, do they reopen the subtask for back-end or create a new sub-task? 

I am trying to figure to figure out the best way to do this in a way that will get us good estimations and a clean workflow. I am looking forward to advice on the best way to manage this as we continue to grow our teams and company. 

[Bill Sheboy]

HI @a2mun  -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Have you answered your questions?  If not...

You have already considered ideas about different ways Jira could help.  I believe there is no "best" way to solve what you ask; what your team does at a point of time is what works for you. And Jira is a tool to help you manage that.

What you can do is pick a simple way to start that gives you options to improve later.

As you suggest, one way is using status values and board columns to match your workflow, putting these on a Kanban board.  Some advantages of this approach are:

• You can organize the work items how you wish (epics, story, task, sub-task, bugs/defects), and change as you like
• The work items on the board indicate where they are in your workflow
• Because your workflow includes your entire lifecycle, you can accurately measure how long it takes to deliver, from request to delivery
• You may evolve your workflow, and scale as needed.  For example, let's say your product line specializes, and you need multiple teams for different products.  Each could use their own project to manage their "value stream" of delivery.

Whatever you choose to do, consider working with the team to have them own the workflow.  People doing the work for a value stream often provide valuable insights on what is working, or not, and how to improve.

Best regards,
Bill