We’ve all been there. The time is ticking. You’re under pressure to create some sparkling charts and reports from all that Jira data.
Yet, let’s be honest. You don’t really know how to use Jira or Confluence.
Of course, everyone within the dev team knows their way around both. But you’ve got to share these reports and dashboards to a wider audience – and fast. They also don’t know the difference between a backlog and a board, or a release from a repository.
But you need to be able to show what you’ve been up to, how much there is left to do, and what you’ll be tackling in the coming weeks. You want to show things visually and at a glance for what your people, teams, and projects are doing. As a bare minimum.
The Problem with Native Jira Charts
You also know that the built-in Jira reporting tools are limited to say the least. These basic configuration options just don’t cut the mustard.
If you don’t like the 8-10 chart options available to you, then you have a problem. It’s the same for the kaleidoscope of colours randomly assigned to each pie chart or graph. And these colour palettes are generated differently every time, too – even if you’re creating the same charts every week. Your key metric might show as blue the first time, but it very quickly becomes red the week after. And then a garish green. Before switching to a psychedelic purple. Try explaining this to a packed sprint review time and again. The novelty will soon wear off.
Jira Reporting Options
So, what can you do? Well, you could burn the midnight oil creating your own custom charts and graphs by importing the Jira data into Microsoft Excel. And that’s before you’ve got to work mocking up 10 elaborate pages in PowerPoint just to showcase these charts and graphs.
There must be an easier way, right? Well, there is.
Jira might be the number one agile tool for software teams. But there’s no reason why non-tech teams should shy away from using it. Jira is becoming easier to use for everyone.
And that’s no surprise. Some of the most in-demand roles at tech firms are no longer software engineers or data scientists. In fact, Glassdoor found that 43% of new hires at tech firms are now for non-tech jobs. All of these budding account executives, operations managers and sales reps will need to use Jira one day themselves.
Finding the Jira reporting app that’s right for you.
Jira has never been a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s why there’s a burgeoning Atlassian Marketplace where you can find thousands of apps to meet the unique needs of every team.
Among them are the Jira reporting plugins. They are immediately available for you to generate the reports you need.
Custom Jira reports can be created for scrum, agile, kanban, or any other teams – giving you an intuitive user experience.
With Custom Charts for Jira, it couldn’t be easier to keep a log of your team’s progress or communicate deliverables. Quickly select and deselect certain data points. And drag and drop segments in the order you want for full and easy control.
You’ll be able to pick the colors for your charts, too – keeping things on brand. Best of all? Your Jira charts will always show in real-time.
Popular Jira Dashboard Gadgets
The basic Jira set-up is sometimes clumsy to navigate around for non-techies (it was designed as a software tool after all) but with the right dashboard gadgets in place, the marketing and design teams will soon be using it as their go-to source of information.
Getting your Jira dashboard gadgets in order also allows your team to quickly assess the progress of the project and spot any bottlenecks building. Multiple dashboards can also be running for different projects. In addition, dashboards can be shared quickly via email or Slack.
Jira Charts in Confluence
Reporting plugins also allow you to put your Jira Charts in Confluence. Confluence is often the best place to share updates with everyone not using Jira on a day-to-day basis. It’s easy to insert a Jira chart macro or any other macros on to Confluence. Confluence macros will always update automatically when things change in Jira.
How to remain connected with remote working
In this new world of remote working, a well-crafted Jira Dashboard makes it easier for everyone to keep up to date with developments.
You’re then able to run your entire project in one place, with Jira becoming the single source of information for everyone.
And you won’t need to brush up on your Excel or PowerPoint skills either.
