Control Chart & Paused Work w/ Flags

[Carlo Lynch]

My team is set up to pass a single issue through a detailed workflow. My aim now is to start capturing cycle time, which the "Control Chart" report does nicely.

I would like to know, though, if there's a way to exclude "pause" time from the chart. For example, if the work is blocked by an external dependency or we simply wish to pause progress on a task, we leave that task in its column/status and simply flag it.

If there's any advice on how I could remove that flagged/paused time from the cycle time, I'd love to hear it. Thank you!

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Carlo Lynch 

Short answer: not with out of the box Jira.

Longer answer: 

• What problem are you trying to solve? 
• You note the team keeps the issue in a status and marks it as flagged when "paused".  That usually means it is still in progress in that status and so any cycle time would include working and non-working time.
• If you wanted to specifically measure working and non-working time within a status, you need some way to track that.  Three options to do that would be:
  • Add more status values and move into/out of the working versus the paused status
  • Add some custom fields to track working versus paused time, and use automation for Jira rules to detect the transition into and out of "paused" (flagged)
  • Purchase a market place add-on project which is capable of making this distinction for measurement

Thanks, and best regards,

Bill

[Carlo Lynch]

Thanks, Bill. A bit of context I left out is that I'm both interested in the full cycle time including pauses as well as finding out how long things have been flagged as blocked/paused at each phase (or JIRA status)--this data will provide me an idea of what statuses have the most impediments.

I think your 3.2 bullet helps me, though, specifically in recording "time in flagged status". I wanted to be sure there wasn't an easier solution before digging in there. 

Thanks again.

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks for clarifying, Carlo. No doubt some marketplace vendors will soon reply to your question with suggested solutions.  ;^)

For automation ideas, here are some sources to get you started:

• https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Automation-articles/Jira-Automation-all-the-resources-you-need-in-one-page/ba-p/1388465
• https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/automation-template-library#/label/all/1453

As you investigate marketplace tools please keep in mind your use case.  With how you mark things as "paused", such as flagging, consider if the tool can account for that.  Or, if there is an alternative indicator they can use.

If you find something that works out of box from a vendor, please consider posting back here so the community can benefit from your learnings.  Thanks!

[Emre Toptancı _OBSS_]

Hello @Carlo Lynch ,

For a ready built solution that offers great fexibility and details, our team at OBSS built Time in Status app for this exact need. It is available for Jira Server, Cloud and Data Center.

( @Bill Sheboy , I would hate to disappoint you :D )

Time in Status allows you to see how much time each issue spent on each status. You can combine statuses into consolidated columns to see metrics like Resolution Time, Cycle Time or Lead Time. Since these consolidated columns are custom defined, you can add the statuses you like and exclude the one you don't.

You can also calculate averages and sums of those durations grouped by issue fields you select. (For example see the average Cycle Time time per project or per issuetype). 

Even better, you can have all this data visualized in various chart types.

  

The app calculates its reports using already existing Jira issue histories so when you install the app, you can get reports on your past issues as well.

The app also has Any Field Duration Report which can report on pause times very effectively. I suggest you also have a look at the following use case document:

https://dev.obss.com.tr/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=303792739

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 issuetype.)
• Export your data as XLS, XLSX or CSV.
• Access data via REST API.
• Use one of various chart types.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1211756

EmreT

[Mehmet A _Bloompeak_]

Hi @Carlo Lynch ,

As an alternative, you can try Status Time app. It provides reports on how much time passed in each status as well as status entry dates and status transition count.

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. It has various other reports like assignee time, status entry dates, average/sum reports(eg. average in progress time per project). And all these are available as gadgets on the dashboard too.

Here is the online demo link, you can see it in action and try.

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