How to organize multiple SAFe projects and boards in Jira

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Did you know you can generate reports across multiple projects in just one click?

In large organizations analyzing multiple Jira boards for Divisions or Product Lines is often a real headache. Each team has its own board, and every time you need to create new charts, you’re stuck manually adding them one by one. This tedious process eats up your time and energy.

Unfortunately, Jira doesn’t offer any built-in solution to solve this.

Yes, you can use a custom JQL filter to get the needed scope, but on the downside, the context of Scrum or Kanban boards will be missed.

We noticed users struggling with this problem everywhere: here in Atlassian and on Reddit, and we got multiple feature requests from our clients.

The good news is that users' pains are an endless source of ideas for the Broken Build team—and this particular pain was successfully turned into a new feature called Board Sets, which we added to the Agile Reports and Gadgets (12 reports for Scrum and Kanban, including velocity, benchmarking, burnup and burndown charts).

So, what are Board Sets?

As the name suggests, you can create sets of boards to use as a single data source for your charts.

It’s a small tweak that the built-in Jira charts lack, and that adds convenience and saves a lot of time.

Imagine you’re managing multiple product lines, each with its own set of boards. Instead of manually selecting boards each time you create a chart, you can create a board set for each product line, so it will look like this:

• Division A: Includes boards from Teams 1, 2, and 3.

• Product Line B: Consists of boards from Teams 4, 5, and 6.

How to create a Board Set

Creating a board set is super simple. Here are two ways to get started:

1. Add boards on the go. As you add boards, save them as a board set directly within the settings.

2. Recreate org structure. In the 'Board Sets' tab, recreate your organizational structure and use it when creating charts.

Important! You can create either Scrum or Kanban board sets.

Mixed sets aren't practical since each methodology requires specific calculations. Adding a description to your board sets is also recommended for easier navigation.

Customizing Board Sets

Board sets are only selectable by their creators. However, you can share charts featuring selected board sets with anyone. If someone doesn’t have access to certain boards, the data for those areas won't be displayed.

Configure boards with:

• Display Name: Simplify identification by using a custom name.

• Sprint Filter: Filter sprints based on their names using regular expressions.

• Custom Estimation Field: Use any numeric field for calculations.

• Custom Done Status: Designate statuses to signify completed work.

You can edit the board set anytime. The changes will automatically update across all charts, ensuring that your data is always up-to-date.

Tips for using Board Sets

• Use meaningful names for easy identification.

• Add descriptions for better navigation.

• Share charts with selected board sets, but remember, data access depends on user permissions.

Customer insights

We mentioned that this feature was inspired by feedback from our customers. So, it's no surprise that it was quickly accepted and adopted by the absolute majority of Agile Reports and Gadgets users.

And you can benefit from it, too, with a 30-day trial - making your Jira setup more efficient and organized.