Plans seems to be assuming multiple people can work on a single story (kanban)

[Deleted user]

I created a plan using multiple kanban teams, and estimated using days.  When I use the auto-schedule feature, it seems to assume multiple people can work on the same story because it sets start and end dates that are less than the total day estimate I gave the story (see screenshot).

My team has 2 people, is using kanban planning, and has a weekly hourly capacity of 80.

I can't seem to find any settings that can adjust this behavior and would appreciate any advice.

[Seon Shakespeare · Accepted solution]

Hi Jill,

Jira's auto-scheduler in Plans primarily focuses on team capacity, not individual assignees. This means it might schedule multiple tasks for the same person on the same day.

A workaround is to create a separate team for each person in Jira. This will prevent the auto-scheduler from assigning multiple tasks to the same person on the same day.

You can learn more about how the auto-scheduler works here: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/how-does-the-auto-scheduler-in-advanced-roadmaps-work/#How-the-Auto-scheduler-allocates-capacity

Hope this helps!

[Deleted user]

Sorry, I'm still confused!  Reading the linked article, I see

"the Auto-scheduler assumes that one person can handle one story-level issue at a time"

However, I have a 5 day story that, according to the start and end dates in the image above, can be completed in 3 days - which I have to assume means the scheduler is assuming multiple people can work on the story at the same time.  

I'd prefer not to create a separate team per person, because I want the capacity behavior you described and don't want to preemptively assign work to any specific individual.  I just want to schedule assuming 1 person works on a story.

[Seon Shakespeare]

Hi Jill,

You bring up some great points! The auto-scheduler can be unpredictable. It should consider that only one person works on a story at a time, but it doesn't always do that consistently.

Double-check for any hidden dependencies between your stories, as those can affect the schedule. If you're still seeing issues, the best next step is to contact Atlassian Support. They can help investigate and might even suggest a feature request for more control over the auto-scheduler.

Hope this helps!

[Deleted user]

Thanks Seon!  I'm not thrilled but accept the answer of "you just can't do that" (yet).