How to create a report for average age minus any time spent in a holding status?

Ryan Wolfe August 12, 2022

I have a problem where we have tasks that are input in preparation for work well in advance of the work being able to be started. Here is the scenario:

We have a large marketing campaign that needs to be started in 2 months' time (but it can't be started early). We receive all the material and need to create a task for it, so they input it as a task in Jira. 

The issue is that leadership is also watching how long it takes for tasks to go from created to completed. The tasks that are input in advance are skewing the report to make it look like the team is taking MUCH longer than they actually are. 

Partial Solution:

I am thinking that we have a status called "Future Tasks" or something like it that any tasks not ready to be worked on yet is put into. The issue is, how do you exclude the time spent on that task from an average age report? If we can exclude that time, it would allow us to have a more accurate report of how long a task is taking from when it is created OR needs to be started to the time it has been completed.

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Trudy Claspill
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August 12, 2022

Hello @Ryan Wolfe 

There are two ways you can produce the Average Age report - from the Reports options associated with a Board and using the Average Age Chart gadget on a Dashboard.

If you generate the report from the Board, you have the option to change the report from using the filter of the board to using another filter. So, create a filter identical to the board, but add a criteria for 

status != FutureTasks

...or whatever status you choose to use to indicate the issue can't be started yet, and save that filter. Then select that filter when generating the report.

Screen Shot 2022-08-12 at 5.28.34 PM.png

 

If you don't want the "audience" to have to pick that filter, then use the same filter and create a Dashboard with the Average Age Chart gadget and configure the gadget to use the filter. Then have the audience access the dashboard. 

Don't forget to share the filter with the folks who need to be able to view the report.

Ryan Wolfe August 13, 2022

@Trudy Claspill the issue with that is it only hides the task while it is in that status. Once moved out of that status it will still have the full age from the created date. What I need is to not include any time in that status, no matter what status it is currently in. 

In other words, I need a ticket that was in the "Future Tasks" status in a month and then "In Progress" for a day to only show a day for the average age.

We are needing the report to ignore any time that a task stays in a particular status regardless of its current status. 

Trudy Claspill
Community Leader
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August 13, 2022

I don't think there is a native way to be selective about which statuses are considered in the native Average Age report.

You might want to consider evaluating some of the third party apps that support development of custom report in the Atlassian Marketplace.

Rahul_RVS_Support
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
August 15, 2022

Hi @Ryan Wolfe 

If you are fine with a mktplace app, you can try out our add-on to get this data. You can group your specific statuses to define the average age.

 Time in Status Reports 

TIS.PNG

Emre Toptancı _OBSS_
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
August 15, 2022

Hello @Ryan Wolfe ,

Introducing another initial status into your workflow is the correct approach. By doing that, you can distinguish the issues that are waiting for their turn and those that are actually being worked on.

There are two built-in Jira reports for this need. The Average Age Report/Chart and the Resolution Time Report/Chart. Unfortunately, both of them suffer from the same problem. They will include the time for the initial waiting status in their output.

If you have Jira Service Management (JSM), you can define SLA metrics that will start when the issue actually starts work and stop when the work on the issue is completed.

If you have Jira Software, the Control Chart that is available as part of Kanban Boards might also help.

 

For the most flexible and comprehensive solution, I can offer our marketplace app for this. Our team at OBSS built Time in Status for this exact need. It is available for Jira Server, Cloud, and Data Center. You can use this solution for all projects and boards. 

Time in Status mainly allows you to see how much time each issue spent on each status and on each assignee

tisCloud_StatusDuration_LeadTime_with Estimates.png  tisCloud_AssigneeDuration.png     

The app has Consolidated Columns feature. This feature allows you to combine the duration for multiple statuses into a single column and exclude unwanted ones. It is the most flexible way to get any measurement you might want. Measurements like Issue Age, Cycle Time, Lead Time, Resolution Time etc.

For all numeric report types, you can calculate averages and sums of those durations grouped by the issue fields you select. For example, the average in-progress time per campaign.

The app calculates its reports using already existing Jira issue histories so when you install the app, you don't need to add anything to your issue workflows and you can get reports on your past issues as well. It supports both Company Managed and Team Managed projects.

Time in Status reports can be accessed through its own reporting page, dashboard gadgets, and issue view screen tabs. All these options can provide both calculated data tables and charts.

And the app has a REST API so you can get the reports from Jira UI or via REST.

Gadget_AverageStatusDurationByComponent.png  tisCloud_StatusDuration_LeadTime_Chart.png

Using Time in Status you can:

  • See how much time each issue spent on each status, assignee, user group and also see dates of status transitions.
  • Calculate averages and sums of those durations grouped by issue fields you select. (For example, see average InProgress time per project and per issue type.)
  • Export your data as XLS, XLSX, or CSV.
  • Access data via REST API. (for integrations)
  • Visualize data with various chart types.
  • See Time in Status reports on Jira Dashboard gadgets

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1211756/

EmreT

Lucy Warner_SaaSJet
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August 15, 2022

Hello @Ryan Wolfe 

Additionally to the mentioned add-ons, an alternative, you can try out the Time in Status for Jira Cloud developed by my team.

It generates an Average time report that displays the data you need. You can read the detailed description of the Average time report here.

average time jira.png

I hope you find it helpful

Bloompeak Support
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
August 15, 2022

Hi @Ryan Wolfe

As an alternative, you can try Status Time Reports app developed by our team. It mainly provides reports and gadgets based on how much time passed in each status.

Here is the online demo link, you can see it in action and try without installing the app.

  • This app has a dynamic status grouping feature so that you can generate various valuable reports as time in status, time in assignee, status entry dates and status counts, cycle time and lead time, average/sum reports by any field(e.g. average in progress time by project, average cycle time by issue creation month).
  • You can search issues by Project, Issue Type, Status, Assignee, Issue Creation/Resolution Date(and any other Date field) and JQL Query.
  • Status durations are calculated according to the working calendar you define. Once you enter your working calendar into the app, it takes your working schedule into account too. That is, "In Progress" time of an issue opened on Friday at 5 PM and closed on Monday at 9 AM, will be a few hours rather than 3 days.
  • You can set different duration formats.
  • You can export reports in CSV file format and open them in MS Excel.
  • You can also add this app as a gadget to your Jira dashboards and reach “Status Time” from Issue Detail page.
  • You can enable/disable access to Status Time reports&gadgets and Issue Detail page per project, users, groups or project role.

If you are looking for a free solution, you can try the limited version Status Time Free.

Note: If you are interested in cycle and lead time, you can have a look at the article below.

Cycle Time and Lead Time in Jira: Productivity Measurement with Two Critical Parameters

Hope it helps.

Karolina Wons_SaaSJet
Rising Star
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August 24, 2022
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