How can I create a Kanban board for Epics?

[Chris Whitman]

As a Product Manager, I am working to build a backlog of Epics for a release, defining them, prioritize them, and then begin grooming them with the team (determining how we break down the Epic into User Stories, and further grooming the storeis). However, before I begin bringing the Epic to the team, there are several things I need to have in place. Does the Epic have architectural input? Is there a mock up/wireframe? Does it have customer validation? is the customer and business value well defined?

What I'm trying to do is make a Kanban board for my Epics so I can keep track of which ones need further definition before bringing to the team, but I don't see a way to do this in Jira.  

In my previous job I used Rally (for them an Epic is called a Feature) and we had a means to create Feature Kanban board for the Product Management team. Any help here would be great.  

[Shawn Masters · Accepted solution]

You can modify the "Issue Type" to call it Epic /Feature/etc.

To have a kanban board focus on Epics only you can set a filter on the board to only look at those issue types. You can also use "Quick filters" to further filter the board while viewing it. 

Editing issue types:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiracloud/adding-editing-and-deleting-an-issue-type-844500747.html

Editing quick filters:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftwarecloud/configuring-quick-filters-764478015.html

[Chris Whitman]

Thanks Shawn!

[Joey_Spooner]

I usually make what's called an Upstream Board to handle this work. Here's what I do.

1. Build a workflow that supports my way of working (e.g. idea -> design -> validate -> refine -> ready for development)
2. I make a Kanban board that reflects the same thing in Jira
3. I use either Epics or my own custom Issue to track the work going across the board
4. I sometimes add in a screen that's prompted during the transition between each status to remind the team to do something (usually a set of checkboxes)

I hope that helps!

[Chris Whitman]

Thanks Joey, that's helpful. Still learning how to use Jira, but I built a similar workflow.