How to manage a project with multiple workflows??

[João Pedro Matos]

Hello everyone,

I have an existencial question within Jira. I have no experience with the software, just with Trello and I'm setting up Jira to manage Kanban projects which always have multiple components:

• Hardware
• Software
• Firmware
• Mechanical
• Documentation and marketing items

For each of these, I've devised a workflow. Before I knew better, I thought It would go like this:

• Each physical product could be a project, example: "Calculator X1" is a project
• within this project, I would open multiple kanban boards, each for the component type, i.e. 1 board for software, 1 board for hardware, etc..
• For each board I would have a different workflow
• I'd still be able to use epics, stories, tasks and subtasks as the issue types for the cards within each board....and cards pertaining to software would only show in the software board etc.

Now, I've just read that workflows in Jira are based on issue types, not on boards, so this plan went up in smoke.

I would have to create issue type "hardware", issue type "software" and so on, so I could have boards with different workflows within a project...bus it this a correct practice? It sounds fishy just writting it..

How would do you guys manage stuff like this??


Thank you, Regards

[Patricia Francezi · Accepted solution]

I manage the way the tool is built to do so. trello and jira are not the same product, they serve different purposes. 

Different worflows usually means different teams, different scenarios, that is more flexible to achieve by using different issues types, then trying to do ifs, a lot of status, transitions, validators, conditions, in the same issue type workflow

in your scenario I would you use the solution provided by docs, it will be less complex than the first option i informed with advanced workflow settings..... 

[Christine Donnelly]

This sounds good, but I don't see the thread of answers by docs, for other context & options.