Quick Wins with Time in Status: 3 Reports You Can Set Up in 10 Minutes

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Sometimes, you just need fast answers. Whether you're preparing for a retro, analyzing a sprint, or wondering why that one issue has been stuck in "In Progress" for a week, Time in Status gives you clear answers without digging through Jira issue history.

This article shares three quick wins you can get from Time in Status in under 10 minutes—no deep setup, no complex configs, no overwhelm.

The "Where Are Things Stuck?" Report

Report: 📊 Time in Status Report

Why it matters: You’ve got a hunch that work is piling up in review or waiting too long for QA. But hunches aren't data.

With the Time in Status Report, you can instantly see how long issues spend in each status. Whether it’s "To Do," "In Progress," "In Review," or a custom status like "Waiting for Customer," the numbers don’t lie.

What to look for:

• Are certain statuses consistently taking longer than others?
• Are issues spending more time in non-value-generating states (e.g., “Blocked,” “Waiting,” or “Review”) than in active work?
• Are certain projects or epics more prone to delays in specific stages?

Use it to:

• Surface bottlenecks without blame.
• Spot trends by filtering over time (this sprint vs. last sprint).
• Support backlog grooming and workflow optimization.

Real example: A team thought QA was the problem—turns out, most of the delay was in "Ready for Test," where tickets sat untouched. Adding a WIP limit and clearer ownership cut idle time by 35%.

The "Who's Overloaded?" Report

Report: 📊 Assignee Time Report

Why it matters: Some people get stuck with all the hairy tickets. Others fly under the radar. That imbalance leads to hidden burnout and inefficiency.

The Assignee Time Report displays the duration for which issues are assigned to each person. It’s not about finger-pointing - it’s about visibility. You may discover that someone is stuck with legacy cleanup or is caught in a cycle of rework.

What to look for:

• Are certain assignees holding issues longer than others?
• Are issues bouncing between people without meaningful progress?
• Is anyone repeatedly assigned tickets that linger in "In Progress" for multiple days?

Use it to:

• Spot unbalanced workloads across sprints.
• Adjust task allocation during planning.
• Start empathetic coaching conversations without surprises.

Real example: A PM noticed one engineer’s tasks stretched across three sprints. The developer wasn’t slow—he was juggling two conflicting streams of work. A shift in priorities cut resolution time by half.

The "Rework Red Flag" Report

Report: 📊 Status Count Report

Why it matters: Nothing slows delivery like issues bouncing between Dev and QA. Jira’s history logs might show status changes, but it’s nearly impossible to read at scale.

The Status Count Report displays the frequency at which a task is assigned to each status. If an issue has been visited "In Review" four times, you’ve got a rework problem.

What to look for:

• Do issues frequently enter "Testing" or "Review" multiple times?
• Are user stories jumping between statuses instead of flowing forward?
• Are there recurring cycles of back-and-forth communication between specific teams or individuals?

Use it to:

• Detect unstable stories, poor definitions of done, or unclear specs.
• Reveal patterns in test failures or blocker resolutions.
• Refine your DoR/DoD criteria for smoother delivery.

Real example: A team found that 20% of stories had three or more QA handoffs. After revisiting their acceptance criteria format, rework dropped by 40%.

Bonus Tip: Layer in Pivot Table View 📊📝

You can combine these insights in a pivot table to group by assignee, status, sprint, or project. That way, patterns aren’t just visible—they’re unmistakable.

Use the Pivot Table View to:

• Compare the time in status across team members.
• Break down delays by epic or label.
• Build a sprint-level performance snapshot without switching tools.

You Don’t Need Big Dashboards to Make Progress

These reports don’t require a complex setup or training. They’re practical, fast, and immediately useful—especially if you're just getting started with Time in Status.

Each of them helps answer a question you’ve probably asked this week. And once you see the value, you can expand to trends, dashboards, and deeper analysis.

✅ Use these reports in:

• Sprint retros ("Where did we slow down?")
• Daily stand-ups ("What’s aging out?")
• Capacity reviews ("Who’s buried?")

Ready to get answers that Jira can’t surface natively?
Start your free trial of Time in Status and set up your first report in 10 minutes or less:
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