Need explanation Columns option of Control Chart

[Kathy Dickason]

I'm viewing a Control Chart.  Under Refine report, next to "Columns" I select "Done."  My report now shows 1 issue, which has the Status "In Progress."  At one point, this issue had moved to the Status "Done" but was then moved back to "In Progress."  Why is it showing when I select the "Done" column? It's not "Done, it's "In Progress"!   

Furthering my confusion:  When I add another status to my "Columns" selection, such as "In Progress" my report adds issues to the display, but they are issues in an array of non-"In Progress" statuses including "Ready," "Done," "Blocked."  

Please help understand what the Columns area under Refine report is for and what it is trying to show me!!

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Kathy Dickason 

Have you reviewed the documentation for the Control Chart?

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftwareserver/control-chart-938845628.html

[kdickason]

Yes, and you’ll see it does not address my specific area of confusion above—the functionality of the Columns area.

[Trudy Claspill]

I found the following information in the document:

Under Tips and Examples > show me some tips > tip #3

The Control Chart shows data for issues that have been in a selected column, but are no longer in a selected column. 

That explains why it is showing you data for issues that are not currently in the Statuses you select from Columns. The issues being considered in the chart were in the selected statuses at some point but are not in those statuses now.

Under "Understanding the Control chart" > how is Cycle Time calculated?

by selecting In Progress and In Review as the columns so that you’ll see the time that issues have spent in these two statuses

Under "Understanding the chart" > how is Lead Time calculated

select To Do and In Review as the columns so that you’ll see the time that issues have spent from when they were raised to when they were completed.

Under "Understanding the chart" > what do the dots represent?

The horizontal placement [of dots] indicates when the issue(s) transitioned out of the last status selected on the chart (in Columns). For example, if you are using the 'Jira Software Development' workflow and have selected 'In Progress' and 'In Review' as the columns on the Control Chart, the dots will indicate when the issue transitioned out of the 'In Review' status.

I'm not an expert on Control Charts, so I can't offer a good, simple explanation of the information that it presents. It seems like truly understanding the data being presented requires delving into specific options that have been selected and looking at individual issues to correlate what is in the chart with information in the issues.

I did an internet search for jira understand control chart video and found several videos that claim to explain the chart. You might want to try watching some of those to see if they help you understand the chart better.

[kdickason]

Well, it looks like I need to slow the heck down and read more thoroughly. I do appreciate your response!!

[Danut M _StonikByte_]

Hi @Kathy Dickason,

Sometimes Jira report are hard to understand... Take a look over this article from Atlassian documentation because it explains how the gadget works: View and understand the control chart.

A better alternative to this report is the Control Chart gadget offered by our Great Gadgets app.

It is highly configurable, more flexible and intuitive than the one from Jira report and offers also a Data tab with the detailed list of issues.  See also this article: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Software-articles/Building-a-powerful-Kanban-dashboard-in-Jira-with-Great-Gadgets/ba-p/1664331

Hope this helps. If you have any questions about this gadget, please contact us at support@stonikbyte.com.

Thank you,

Danut Manda