Project management in Jira - tracking deadlines, schedule, and overview of all projects

[Michal Bergmann]

Hello, community!

I am a beginner in Jira and I would like to focus on the planning of projects (issues) as well as doing project management stuff. 

I am looking for an app (?) where I can:

• Follow deadlines of issues (one issue can have several semi-deadlines (clarification with the client) and I need to track these deadlines somewhere
• Plan work for the rest of the team based on estimates (weekly plans, ...)
• See an overview of all projects (issues) in one place 

As you can see, my idea is not much sharp currently, however before I will start downloading apps from the Atlassian marketplace I would like to discuss what works for you and who would you recommend me to check.

Thanks a lot. 

[Mary from Planyway · Accepted solution]

Hi @Michal Bergmann 

You may take a look at Planyway, it allows you to connect multiple projects to one timeline and track all the deadlines in one place.

I suggest tracking semi-deadlines using subtasks or Planyway milestones.

Besides, there's the workload tab that helps to plan teams' under/overload,

Oh, and it's free for up to 10 users. :) 

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to advise.
Tania

[Michal Bergmann]

@Mary from Planyway Thanks a lot. Planyway seems to be a really interesting tool!

I have two questions:
1/ We are using tempo for tracking time. Can I somehow integrate into Planyway? (now all times are logged by tempo and users are missing)

2/ Planning issues: Example > I have one issue where one person will work for 2 days and then this issue will be assigned to the other person for 1 day. Can I somehow plan it in this way in the Timeline view or the Workload view?

Thank you!

[Mary from Planyway]

Hi @Michal Bergmann,

Thanks for asking!

1) Planyway time tracking is based on Jira's worklogs. If you can sync your Tempo time entries with Jira's worklogs, then you should see all the worklogs in Planyway's time tracking tab.

2) An issue can't be split, unfortunately. As a workaround, you can use subtasks to plan different stages of the same task and agree with your team to track time on the main task. 

Let me know if you have any other concerns or questions,
Tania

[Michal Bergmann]

Hello @Mary from Planyway 

1) I can't find how to sync Tempo times with Jira worklogs... But this is a question for Tempo support, right? :)

2) Thanks! 

3) Is it possible somehow to share for example Planyway timeline with the rest of the team where selected projects will be selected also for team members? Point is to have a similar view as me (administrator).

Thank you! 

[Mary from Planyway]

Hi @Michal Bergmann, :)

1) Tempo team will be the most suited to advise here, but please look at this help article: https://tempo-io.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/KB/pages/2954788869/Tempo+and+Jira+worklog+sync+on+Cloud.

It seems that Tempo team can always manually sync your Tempo worklogs into Jira.

3) If your team has access to the same projects you do, then it'd be possible for them to recreate the same timeline you see in Planyway. All they need to do is to select the projects from the list when opening Planyway and switch to the timeline or workload tabs:

Otherwise, there isn't a Share button to share your view with the team, but we're planning to add this option later on.

Cheers,
Tania 

[Michal Bergmann]

Thank you @Mary from Planyway 

[Kathryn Vargas _Tempo_]

Thanks for the mention, @Dirk Ronsmans! @Michal Bergmann I'm part of the Structure  team and can confirm that the app can help you achieve those goals :) 

Structure is a project portfolio management app that help you gain an overview of all your projects in one spreadsheet-like view, visualize issues in any grouping or hierarchy you like (e.g. for portfolio planning like the one below, with levels above the Epic), and add any Jira field as a column. 

To track deadlines, you can easily add the Due Date column (or a similar column) to your overview and see those dates alongside the issues. 



A feature unique to Structure that can help even more easily spot those creeping deadlines is Formulas, which lets you do real-time calculations directly in Jira. For example, you can use a built-in formula like Due In or write your own to help indicate soon-to-be-due or overdue issues. 

You can also visualize these deadlines and spot any dependencies by transforming these overviews to Gantt charts using the Structure.Gantt extension, which also has a Resources feature to help you plan work for your teams based on work estimates. 



I know this was a lot of info, but I hope it helps! Both apps are available on the Marketplace and free to try for 30 days. 

Best, 
Kathryn 

[Michal Bergmann]

@Kathryn Vargas _Tempo_ Thank you for your help :-)

[Dirk Ronsmans]

Hey @Michal Bergmann ,

If you are looking to go up a level in your project management there are a few options when it comes to apps.

1. Use the build in Advanced Roadmaps which comes with the Premium Jira Software plan. This is mainly based on Development work but it's a roadmap none the less :)
2. Some other apps that you can look at are Structure and/or BigPicture. Those are the ones I've worked with and they allow you to do Project and Portfolio management. BigPicture is a bit more advanced which includes also cost and capacity/resource planning

so it does depend how much you to invest and how complex your cases will get but these apps will most likely already give you some level of management in your project/portfolio journey :)

They mainly help as you can build your own structures and hierarchies and do things like baselines/what if scenario's

[Hamza Chundrigar]

+1 BigPicture. Great PPM tool!

Haven’t used Structure (yet) but I’ve heard good things about it.

Unfortunately Advanced Roadmaps for Jira has its limitations when it comes to proper capacity/cost management and resource allocation (amongst a few other things from experience).

[Michal Bergmann]

@Dirk Ronsmans @Hamza Chundrigar Thank you for your help :-)