trying to build reporting that allows executives to see value of work.

[Peter Walowen]

i am at a loss. my CEO wants to use JIRA to be able to look at our efforts understand the actual hours. as well as the planned hours and be able to link into each epic if they want to understand more. is there a report or a tool that can help us do this basic portfolio management task.  I hope that is enough but I would love to work with someone. I am wondering if there is a tool i dont know about that captures this information. also does Jira offer best practices for building projects for both development and maintenance that we could follow to make sure we are entering information the best way that allows us to get information back out?

[Josh Costella]

Hi @Peter Walowen 

So, you have a few different asks in your post. I know it may seem overwhelming but try to solve one problem at a time. 

First, how your projects and boards are configured is very important to ensure you can get the right data to report on.

In terms of Best Practices, you'll want to get familiar with this section of Atlassian's documentation: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/getting-started/who-uses-jira

For seeing how planned vs actual hours roll up to Epics, I would recommend using Advanced Roadmaps (Plans). https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/advanced-roadmaps/overview#what-is-advanced-planning

You can configure your plans to use Hours (https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/change-estimation-units-in-your-plan/). As long as your work items (Stories and/or Tasks) are linked to Epics, they will show up in your Plan. Make sure your boards are configured to use Hours as your main estimation statistic as well. 

There are a lot of great tutorials in there and information that should help you find what you are looking for. 

It's going to take a little time to build the correct project configurations so that you can get the data your CEO is looking for. And remember, once the configurations are in place, you still need everyone to update their tickets and follow whatever your process is. But once the data starts being entered, you will be able to get the reports you need. 

[Peter Walowen]

Thank you Josh, Great advice. digging into this today. Take care.

[Gizem Gökçe _OBSS_]

Hello @Peter Walowen ,

One of the best ways to track the time spent on certain tasks is to dig into the Jira issue histories. Tracking the time spent on each status & each assignee can give you a good overview of the effort spent. To track this let me suggest you a marketplace application.

Timepiece - Time in Status for Jira ,the oldest and leading "Time in Status" app in Atlassian Marketplace, which is developed by my team at OBSS, has several report types that will meet your need.  Our app is available for both Jira Cloud, and Data Center. 

Timepiece mainly allows you to see how much time each issue spent on each status or each assignee. 

Status Duration report which shows how much time each issue spent on each status. 

Assignee Duration report which shows how much time each assignee spent on each issue. 

 If you want a combination of these two you can use Assignee Duration per Status or Status Duration per Assignee reports.

The app calculates its reports using already existing Jira issue histories so when you install the app, you don't need to add anything to your issue workflows and you can get reports on your past issues as well.

Timepiece reports can be accessed through its own reporting page, dashboard gadgets, and issue view screen tabs. 

Visit Timepiece - Time in Status for Jira to experience the full range of features.

If you wish, you can also schedule a live demo. We will provide a comprehensive overview of the application and address any inquiries you may have.

Hope it helps,

Gizem

[Valeriia_Havrylenko_SaaSJet]

Hi @Peter Walowen  👋

If you're thinking about installing third-party add-ons, you might want to check out Time in Status. This add-on helps you track both actual and planned hours, and you can generate reports that link to epics for deeper insights. With this add-on, you can analyze how long a ticket spends in various stages of its workflow, providing a full picture of its lifecycle, including during active statuses.

Also useful feature in add-on is The Sprint Performance Report. It helps you monitor the progress and performance of completed sprints, allowing teams to present information to the CEO.

You can also book a live demo - we'll show you the application inside out and answer all your questions.

Add-on developed by my team.

I hope you find this helpful 🚀

[Eduardo Anflor - MindPro]

Hi, @Peter Walowen 

Many different apps in the marketplace help users to build reports. If you are looking for something simple to use, please, take a look at Mindpro Insights. This app allows any user to build reports in a few clicks, using pre-loaded or custom gadgets.

Using your example, you can track time spent on issues and the epic progress. It also allows you to drill down information from the epics, so you can adapt the entire dashboard to the desired epic in a few clicks. I recorded a quick video to show you this. There are many gadgets you can select for various purposes and templates to start Project, Agile, ITSM, or Custom dashboards easily. 

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Eduardo.