How to configure project in Portfolio 2.0 (Live Plan) with Initiatives?

[Tomasz Kołodziejczyk]

Hi, I have following configuration problem. 

Configuration:

• JIRA Software Project A with Board A
• JIRA Software Project B with Board B 
• JIRA Software Project C with Board C 
• JIRA Portfolio with Classical Plan including Project A, B and C (all together). Portfolio is the place where we have Initiatives connected to Epics. We can track here high level product roadmap. 

Goal:

• setup new Live Plan in Portfolio with connected Boards A, B, C and Initiatives (Hierarchy Structure: Initiatives->Epics->User Stories->Sub-Tasks)

Problem Description:

• if we create Live Plan by default we have Epics, User Stories and Sub-Tasks (out of the box) but we would like to have Initiatives. 
• if we create new Issue Type Initiative and enable it in all Projects/Boards we will have possibility to manage Initiatives in Portfolio but they will be visible also in backlog in each board. We would like to hide them. It is possible to hide specific Issue Type from board by making appropriate filter (configure board) but if we do it we hide Initiatives again from Portfolio.

Questions:

1. How should we configure Live Plan to have Initiatives available but not visible in Boards Backlog?
2. I watched one of the Atlassian Portfolio Webinar and there they suggest to create New project for Initiatives and connect Initiative Board with Live Plan. Is there any other solution for it? 

Thanks for support. 

[Martin Suntinger · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tomasz Kołodziejczyk, you have basically two options to solve this (really depends on your preference): 

1) Store initiatives in your projects, but filter them out from the board - basically what you were already thinking about, the only missing piece is that if you filter them out from the boards, you can add an additional Filter source to your Portfolio plan to include them there, so basically your Portfolio plan would have 4 sources, the 3 boards, and 1 custom filter, filtering for only the Initiative issue type from the 3 projects. Portfolio merges all sources together so you'll get exactly what you need. Benefit is that the initiatives are in your projects, you don't need an extra project. 

2) Create a separate project to manage your initiatives and add that project as an additional source. Several users prefer this as it does not require to modify existing board queries, and also doesn't require the issue type to be added to those existing projects. also, you could use this extra project to manage a backlog of your initiatives, for example if they go through a particular workflow like business approval, high-level design etc. before being ready to plan in Portfolio. The downside is that you have an extra project to manage and keep up to date. 

Hope this helps! 

-Martin

[Tomasz Kołodziejczyk]

@Martin Suntinger

Thanks for quick and helpful answers.

I missed that we have possibility to use filter in Live Plan as additional source. 

I will play with the first solution and check if it is suitable for us.

One more time thanks for support! 

[Jochen Häberle]

I basically understand this solution. Seems quite simple. But how will I get to manage the hierarchy in Portfolio 2.0 as requested?

[Jochen Häberle]

I was able to figure this out. In Admin - AddOns there is a Portfolio Hierarchy Setting, where you can add a level and assign the issue type to it.

After that it works quite as expected.

[Tomasz Kołodziejczyk]

Right, you need to go to JIRA Administration panel - Add Ons - Portfolio Hierarchy Configuration. 

After that, you need to add Initiative at the top, to get following structure: Initiatives - Epics - User Stories - SubTasks.