Hi all!
I spend quite some time in the Community answering questions. One of the first things I run into many times when diving into questions, is how people want to do things in Jira that are perfectly possible, but unfortunately not in the project type they are working in. That may lead to frustration, sleepless nights, discussions at work between colleagues, broken marriages, ...
Obviously, I am exaggerating. But being aware that these different project types are there and which type is right for you can save you a lot of headaches. So ...
Project types, you said?
Yes, project types! Jira comes with 2 flavours of projects, called team managed and company managed. They used to be called next-gen (team managed) and classic (company managed), but Atlassian changed the names to better reflect what they really are.
These different project types exist in both Jira Software and Jira Service Management. And there is extensive documentation on how they are different:
Those articles are a must read if you are getting started with Jira and are ready to set up your first project. There's quite a few pages to get through, so here's a few takeaways up front:
Things to consider
Company managed projects are meant to be used by different teams. They share their configuration and therefor must - at least partially - be configured by a Jira Administrator. There is a learning curve involved, but they are really powerful to share practices, updates and reporting across your entire organisation.
If you are migrating from Jira Server or Data Center, company managed projects are the projects you are familiar with.
Team managed projects are exclusive to Jira Cloud. Based on the idea that configuration can be made easier than with classic projects, they are easy to set up and not restricted to the privilege of a Jira Administrator. Basically - and in theory - everyone can create them. Features - like the backlog, sprints, reports, ... - are turned on and off with the toggle of a switch. They are easy to set up indeed, but the configuration and the board are limited to just your single project. It can't be shared.
So, which one is right for me / my team?
That is a decision for you to take, of course. And as someone new to Jira, take the time to look at both options and explore the differences. Make sure that you understand the differences before you dive head first into your most important strategic company project to find out later you 'd better picked the other type ...
As a rule of thumb, at least for now:
- If you work in perfect isolation with your team on one single project, go ahead and enjoy the ease to setup your team managed project.
- As soon as you are thinking about working on multiple projects, need cross-project reporting or complex workflows, take the time and effort to learn the configuration of company managed projects.
Most of all, enjoy your Jira journey!
