Jira for Babies (and Parents): How Jira helped us plan for our first baby

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I wrote this blog and published it internally at Atlassian in the months leading up to the birth of my son. He’s since been born and we couldn’t be happier.

I wanted to share this journey through Jira as an expecting parent and show that it’s more than ticketing tool.

“Why Jira?”

I say: “Why not!?” Our the IT Org successfully uses Atlassian products all the time to solve various business challenges. We use Jira daily to track work. And, as I thought about it, having a baby was akin to a complex (albeit laborious) work management task.

Trello would have performed well, too, but my comfort with Jira made it a no-brainer. So, going with these chains of thought, I created a Jira personal account, added my wife to it, and started planning.

So what went into it?

Everything, of course! Like a good tech couple, my wife (a developer) and I broke our work down into epics, such as:

1. Baby shower

2. Baby registry

3. Labor and delivery prep

4. Vaccinations

5. Plan for my in-laws to travel from India to support us

Then we created tasks related to each epic, with priorities, and built a backlog. More on this, including examples and screenshots are further down the blog!

What rituals did you use to manage it all?

Key learning: A LOT goes into a baby’s arrival.

A month before the baby was due to arrive, we completed around 150 tasks in this project! With so much to do, we needed to divide and conquer, with a big focus on keeping it FUN. Here’s our project methodology:

• Backlog grooming: We maintained a healthy backlog. We added tasks as we understood requirements for baby (or should we say ‘user stories’ for Baby persona?).

• Sprint planning: We decided to do weekly sprints. Depending on our workload (at our paid jobs) for any given week, we planned our capacity and assigned tasks to ourselves. Usually 2-3 tasks / person / week.
• Stand-ups: We had daily stand-up meetings during our evening walks. Yes. You read this right.
• Sprint Reviews: Over the weekends, we opened Jira and updated tickets, monitored progress, and celebrated wins! Like, finalizing car seat out of a dozen options, and deciding the type of Diapers to use (Reusable cloth diapers).

When it comes to a first baby’s shower, it POURS!

According to one of Sir Isaac Newton’s Three Laws of Motion and a Baby (the family edition):

For every expected baby, there’s an EQUAL and OPPOSITE amount of baby shower planning that goes into that baby.

This law is immutable. Behold our first baby shower plan using Jira. Things went as smooth as, well, a baby’s bottom!

This baby was coming!

Here’s the epic that helped me with my pre-daddy shock episodes. “Breathe! And 1, and 2, and 3!”

Baby Registry

There’s a lot to think about when it comes to baby “needs.” Things like:

• Which diapers to use? Compostable vs. disposable vs. Reusable. I have a DACI for this.

• Where will the baby hang? bassinet, crib, pack’n’play, rocker, swing, baby carrier, stroller, good ole car-seat?

• What will the baby wear? hats, mittens, onesies, jammies, swaddles, socks, burp cloths, blankets. And what the is a sleep-sack?

• Uppa, Pipa, Mesa, Nuna, Chicco, Vista … What’s what?

This epic helped us sort through it all.

The long and winding road of travel planning for family visits

While Covid “induced” many restrictions (apparently, mother nature kicked in my dad joke gene), we were determined to fly the in-laws halfway around the globe to be here for their first grandchild’s birth. Jira helped track down all tasks related to flight reservations, travel insurance, transit stay, vaccination, and more.

Baby on BOARD 👶

Here’s the board view!

As baby was growing, so was our task list

This is not a chart of my blood pressure over 8 months!

What earlier seemed like a pie in the sky

What I learned (so far)

1️⃣ The right tools, like Jira, can help teamwork happen a lot smoother at home!

2️⃣ The more you plan and document these projects, the less space these things occupy in your mind.

3️⃣ Atlassian products are free for up to 10 people. I highly recommend using our products to declutter your mind space, whether you’re planning a world tour or having a baby!

[Ollie Guan]

Awesome!

[Mayur Jadhav]

@Akshay Patki Best way to use Jira 

[Shannon Jones]

What a phenomenal use of your skills and resources!

This baby has a great start to a wonderful life with parents like you, that's for sure!