Jira, a highly customisable and collaborative software, can be used in a variety of ways to assist your team with their project management. Based on Agile principles, this Atlassian tool works hand-in-hand with your team to deliver on your project needs. Wondering how your team can use Jira’s capabilities to their advantage? We’ve written this helpful blog analysing some of Jira’s best project management functions and outlining how your team can implement them.

What is Jira?

Although Jira started as an IT tool, it now supports project management within a wide variety of departments, ranging from HR to Finance and Sales. Jira allows teams to track issues, which act as single work items that are designated to members of your team. By splitting tasks into issues, your team is able to keep track of progress and identify any potential roadblocks along the way.

How can your team start or improve their project management workflows with Jira?

With the mass of functions available, your team might find it intimidating to first start using Jira for their project management needs. However, this software is very intuitive, even offering templates as a means for your team to configure their projects according to their needs. Jira also offers your team the ability to employ a project plan according to their departmental needs, such as time-based project for teams in Sales departments, in addition to iterative projects needed by software teams. Creating issues within Jira allows you to plan and set out tasks, and even create smaller sub-tasks that can be assigned to teammates. These issues can be further classified through the use of epics - a feature that describes a group of issues that relate to the same, larger body of work. With the advanced project planning features, your issues can be organised according to priority, allowing your team to create a comprehensive plan.

What functions does Jira have to offer?

Workflows

One of Jira’s main functions are the customisable workflows it offers to allow your team to organise their processes. Within a Jira workflow, you can track your issues from creation to completion, allowing you to control the set of rules that your issues follow as they transition through different work stages. During this time, your team has complete control of how the issue behaves as it moves through the lifecycle, including the ability to add automations to repetitive processes. Workflows also encourage effective communication within the team through the ability to add statuses and updates.

Filters and automations

Jira offers a plethora of advanced filtering capabilities designed to save you and your team time and make your workflow more effective. By taking advantage of the detail you can add into your issues, your team can benefit further down the line by filtering through a variety of information, such as assignees, due date and epics. Furthermore, Jira offers a wide range of automations designed to make your project more manageable. These automations are carried out according to rules set by you and your team, meaning that you can customise them directly to the needs of your project.

Visualise progress

Through a wide variety of templates, your team can easily visualise progress in order to gain a better understanding of the project workflow. This also allows the team to identify any patterns that have caused roadblocks in the past and amend their workflow for more efficiency in the future. Through this, Jira also provides teams with visual reports that provide valuable insights into their project process. By using this functionality, the team is able to analyse roadblocks and gain deeper knowledge into how their project typically functions.

What’s next for Jira?

Despite already having a multitude of features at your disposal, Jira is constantly looking to improve your user experience. Recently, a new feature has been introduced where users can change the workflow, or issue type, of a request type. In addition to this, Jira administrators can now create a customisable announcement banner that is displayed to the users in their instance. Users can also look forward to the opportunity of using custom domains in their cloud site, a feature that is currently under works by Atlassian.

As a highly customisable software, Jira has a lot to offer your team and their specific project needs. If you would like to find out more about how your team can get started with Jira, get in touch, our expert team can answer any questions you may have!

The blog below details key experiences from our product intern, David, and his time at New Verve.

Why did you apply for this internship?

When I set out to find the perfect internship, I had a few things in mind. After working in big corporate setups, I wanted to gain experience in a different setting. That’s why New Verve Consulting caught my eye – a smaller, more close-knit team where I could really dive into everyday software development tasks.

But that’s not all! The tech stack they currently use, featuring the likes of React and AWS, had me completely onboard. These technologies are still arguably core pillars of web application development, and I was eager to improve my skills with them. This internship presented an ideal prospect for not only acquiring proficiency with these software tools but also utilising them in a practical setting.

What was a typical day like for you at New Verve?

I’d kick off my day by checking my emails and seeing what meetings were on the agenda. Then, I’d make my own to-do list for the day. Having a plan helped me stay on track and organised. We have this cool thing in agile development called product stand-ups, where we talk about what we were working on. But we didn’t just talk about work – we’d also catch up on things like how our evenings and weekends went. It was a nice way to connect, especially since we were all working remotely. We’d do this twice a week, and I even got to lead one of them every week! Following this, we had pair programming sessions, where we could ask questions, sort out problems, and review each other’s code. Working together made everything feel easier, fun, and ultimately more efficient.

The rest of my working day was mostly spent diving deep into coding. I’d research stuff, read documents, and write code. It was where the real action happened – turning ideas into actual things. There were moments of triumph when everything worked perfectly, and times when I scratched my head, wondering why something wasn’t working right. But that’s the beauty of coding – it’s a mix of creativity, logic, and problem-solving magic. Of course, coding was just the beginning. After that came the testing phase, where I ran tests, spotted bugs, and fixed them, turning my code into something robust and reliable ready for PR. And you know what the best part is? It’s the feeling you get when everything finally comes together.

Sometimes, I’d mix things up by joining virtual-coffee sessions. These were essentially informal chats with other co-workers outside the products team, where we’d talk about all sorts of things and get to know each other better.

Was anything different from what you expected from a development role?

While my expectations were largely in line with my past internship experiences, I was pleasantly surprised by the extent of my interaction with other team members, finding myself engaging more frequently with them in a remote setting compared to when I worked in a hybrid environment. Moreover, I was also impressed by the wide range of tasks that I had the chance to dive into. From coding to testing, DevOps, reviews, and resource/team management. Arguably, this diverse involvement resulted in a more complete work experience and has strengthened several valuable transferable skills that I will definitely apply in various contexts going forward.

What did you think of remote working at New Verve?

Remote working at New Verve was definitely a pleasant surprise. I found myself not only adapting to it quickly but thriving in this setup. Working from the comfort of my own space significantly increased my productivity. I was able to concentrate better and accomplish tasks more efficiently, having a very positive effect on my mental well-being. While remote work can sometimes create a sense of isolation, I was pleasantly surprised by the robust communication channels established at New Verve. Regular online meetings, chats, and quick catch-ups virtually erased any concerns I might have had about feeling disconnected. The developing team was always just a message away, ready to provide help and guidance.

Moreover, the company’s organisation for remote operations was, in my opinion, solid and robust. Unlike some experiences I’ve heard about, where remote work can feel disjointed, New Verve had a well-established system in place bringing the major benefits of remote working. This went from task assignments to updates and collaboration, ensuring strong teamwork.

I really enjoyed remote working at New Verve, and I believe this to be a major selling point for working here.

How did you find the work culture?

From the first day at work, colleagues were approachable, open, and always ready to lend a hand. One of the things that really stood out to me was the flexibility in working hours. It wasn’t about clocking in and out, it was about finding a balance that worked for me. This flexibility gave me the freedom to choose when I was most productive and strike a balance between work and life. Despite sometimes having a lot on our plates, stress wasn’t the norm! Following agile practices, the team planned tasks using story points and estimates, which meant we always had plenty to do, but it was spread out in a way that made things manageable and enjoyable. I even got to participate in one of the sprint planning sessions with my manager and got to assign tasks and estimates to other team members as well as myself.

Another awesome aspect was the freedom and flexibility to explore different areas. I started with more front-end work and gradually ventured into back-end development. Guidance was regularly provided during catchup sessions with my manager, where we’d discuss how things were going, exchange ideas, and figure out areas where we could all improve. This support ensured that I was on the right track and constantly progressing.

And then there was the summer social – a highlight of my time at New Verve. We came together for a terrarium workshop, shared a delicious lunch, and had a blast with drinks. This event was great to get to meet most of the team in person and at a more informal level.

Can you tell us some of your highlights from working at New Verve?

Undoubtedly, a highlight was my involvement in a real product like CRUMBS. I collaborated closely with experienced developers to modify and extend the codebase with new features and bug fixing, enhancing the software’s overall utility. This hands-on engagement allowed me to traverse the entire software development lifecycle – from conceptualization and meticulous design, to the process of implementation, rigorous testing, and bug fixing. The knowledge and proficiency gained from this experience is truly immeasurable. It has provided me with insights that will come in handy in my future work within and outside university. The mentorship provided by both Abraham Cabrera Valdivia and Victor Lee was also key in enabling me to navigate challenges effectively.

New Verve’s work environment allowed me to move away from just coding and embrace a diverse array of other roles and responsibilities. This went from code reviewing and independent research to participating in conceptual design and ‘shadowing’ of resource management and sprint planning sessions. Being able to experience the resource management side of things certainly helped me with work time estimations and will be a good skill to have when or if I lead teams in the future. Furthermore, being able to do stuff like writing this blog post demonstrates the company’s commitment to multifaceted growth, as opposed to limiting workers to just their role.

How have you made the most of your internship experience?

I’ve maximised my internship experience by going beyond coding. Throughout my time at New Verve, I’ve consistently sought opportunities to broaden my horizons.

During our weekly catchup meetings, I spoke with my manager, Victor Lee, about additional areas of interest that I would like to be tasked with or simply learn about. While coding remained the most relevant and central focus, I actively did or learned about other tasks mostly relevant to software development. This included shadowing my manager to gain insights into project management dynamics, actively engaging in sprint planning sessions, and even taking the lead in product stand-ups.

Moreover, during virtual-coffees, I would normally ask other employees to describe their roles and daily routines within the company so as to better understand the company’s inner workings. What I am trying to say here is that my internship wasn’t confined to a single and limited track but rather a flexible and dynamic work experience where I got to work outside pure programming and further enhance my technical skills.

How do you feel about your career after this internship experience at New Verve?

This role provided the perfect bridge between the theoretical knowledge I gained at university and the hands-on practical tasks in the real world. It’s like taking all those concepts from lectures and turning them into actual working products. Learning about resource and task management was like unlocking a whole new level of understanding. Coding is just a part of the unique challenges that come with software development. I also learned how all past skills learned while working with bigger-scale products are applicable to smaller products like CRUMBS and vice versa.

From diving into APIs to embracing agile practices, these skills are like assets that I can carry forward in my career. As technology evolves, having a diverse toolbox will be super valuable in staying adaptable and relevant. Whether I choose to work on pure software development in the future or not, the exposure to agile practices and an iterative development process will certainly be of use, especially where agility and adaptability are crucial.

If you were to sum up your time at New Verve in a sentence what would you say?

My time at New Verve was a fantastic journey where I further developed my technical skills and connected with wonderful people always eager to lend a hand.

​

Jira, a powerful Atlassian tool typically used within software development and IT teams makes managing projects simple, but did you know that other teams can also use Jira to their advantage? In addition to following Agile methodology, Jira gives teams the resources to efficiently progress in their tasks in any sector of a business. Teams from Marketing and HR, all the way to Legal and Finance can utilise the extensive features of Jira to streamline their operations.

Another resource for teams to consider is Jira Work Management, which is specifically tailored to the needs of business teams rather than software developers. Those with non-technical experience can easily manage projects, processes and tasks with efficiency. To assist with any questions, we have put together this helpful blog to help your team explore the benefits of Jira and Jira Work Management.

How can your team utilise these tools for their business needs?

As a tool that prioritises the importance of collaboration and visibility within tasks, Jira can be used in a variety of business contexts to achieve efficiency. In addition to this, the specialised nature of Jira Work Management allows teams to better understand their processes. Check out some main features of this tool and how it can assist your team:

Functions for visibility and collaboration

Jira Work Management boasts many features designed to make projects more manageable for teams. Such features include a variety of ways to view tasks, such as list view, which provides key information at a glance. On the other hand, calendar view allows team members to visualise tasks in accordance to their deadlines, ensuring that all collaborators have an understanding of upcoming tasks. Through providing a team with consistent visibility, Jira assists with the consistent progress of business teams.

Visualise and track progress

With the automations tools available within Jira, teams can easily track their progress and display any tasks in progress to facilitate an open and collaborative environment. Through data measuring capabilities, teams can monitor performance and project process to ensure that tasks are completed at an optimal level. Jira Work Management also allows such performance results to be presented in a visual format through dashboards and reports, making analysis intuitive.

Take advantage of templates available

Both Jira and Jira Work Management offer a wide variety of templates to help your business team with successful project management. From iterative workflows to project construction, these tools were created not only to help your team, but to also facilitate cross-departmental collaboration. In addition to helping teams save time templates can also allow departments to gain a better understanding of the key components associated with their projects.

Such tools have proven to be invaluable to business teams across a wide range of departments. The built-in capabilities of both Jira and Jira Work Management allow users to collaborate efficiently while maintaining steady progress and visibility within their work.

Interested in how Jira can be used to help your team? Get in touch with our expert solution team that can answer any questions you may have regarding Jira.

This blog comes to you from our Marketing Intern, Julita; it details her time with New Verve and the skills she’s learned through the internship.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship while I was approaching my last semester at the University of Glasgow. As a Business Management & Psychology student, I was very interested in the marketing sector. I believe that effective marketing allows businesses to gain a better understanding of consumer behaviour, with many opportunities for creativity also presented when addressing customers.

While I was researching opportunities on the Internship Hub, I knew that I wanted to focus on something marketing specific so that I would gain a better understanding of what a role within this sector entails. Upon seeing New Verve’s job posting, I was intrigued by the B2B nature of the company, which would significantly change the perspective of Marketing that I was accustomed to as a user.

In addition to this, I also had limited experience within the tech sector and the opportunity to gain experience within this was a very exciting prospect. Knowing that this internship would show me a side of marketing that would be entirely new for me, I was very keen to apply and experience new challenges.

What was a typical day like for you at New Verve?

To begin each day, the marketing team would complete a daily stand-up, in which we would run through the tasks on our boards and update the team on our progress. We would also use these meetings as an opportunity to socialise and catch-up with other team members, which made me feel much more connected to my team. I found these stand-ups extremely useful, as they allowed me to talk through my daily tasks, as well as ask any questions and receive answers immediately.

A typical day within New Verve varied as I progressed through the internship. Throughout my first two weeks, many of my daily tasks were centred around learning about the company and ensuring that I feel comfortable with the tools that they use. Throughout this training, those on my team held meetings with me to make sure that I understood the different components of the business, and were always available to answer any questions I had.

In addition to this, the work I completed within New Verve was also quite varied, allowing me to gain experience in tasks such as blog and case study writing, social media posts and reporting analytics. New Verve wanted me to gain experience in many aspects, which I would be able to keep with me for the rest of my career. In addition to this, my team encouraged me to tell them which tasks I find the most interesting, so that they could cater my experience to what would be the most beneficial to me.

Was anything different from what you expected from a marketing role?

As this was my first marketing role, I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect upon starting my internship. Despite having a keen interest in marketing, as well as technical knowledge from my University course, I was unsure about the reality of working on a marketing team. From the outset, I was surprised about the wide variety of tools that are available for Marketing teams to use to assist and monitor their progress with tasks.

As a student, I never had access to such a vast catalogue of apps, such as Trello, that would allow me to complete tasks while still being creative. Furthermore, I was surprised at the amount of information available on analytics and reports. As someone who is interested in consumer behaviour, such a detailed breakdown of consumer patterns was very interesting to me.

After expressing this to my manager, Louise Reilly, she gave me the opportunity to dive deeper into the analytics and explore consumer reports on a wide variety of platforms, including the New Verve website and their social media. Overall, the support that New Verve gave me to explore my topics of interest allowed me to gain a much better understanding of what it means to work in marketing, and made me much more confident that this is something I would like to pursue.

What did you think of remote working and the flexibility at New Verve?

Having completed a year of my University course online following the COVID-19 outbreak, I knew that I enjoyed the flexibility that remote learning allowed. However, I was anxious about how being remote would translate into a professional situation. Needless to say, the entire team at New Verve was extremely welcoming and made an effort to get to know me, easing my concerns about feeling disconnected from my team when working remotely.

In addition to this, the daily stand-ups gave me an opportunity to refocus on what my goals for each day were, allowing me to stay productive and plan my day. Our team also conducted several sprints, in which we would set goals for the upcoming weeks and discuss our marketing strategy.

Overall, I really enjoyed the remote working aspect of the internship and the flexibility that came with it; I felt connected to my team and was able to reach out for help at any time.

How did you find the work culture?

The team at New Verve is extremely friendly and welcoming. During my first week, many people reached out to me over Slack to personally welcome me to the team and I had introductory meetings set up with every department so that I would feel more comfortable within the company. I was also assigned a buddy that could answer any questions I had outwith the marketing team, which showed the effort and consideration that New Verve made to make interns feel part of the team.

The work culture is very supportive and easy-going, with weekly socials allowing people from different departments to socialise and get to know each other. This was also supported by a Slack extension named Donut, which would set up fortnightly meetings between two randomly assigned co-workers, allowing the team to have valuable one-on-one time with those outside of their immediate team.

I felt extremely supported throughout my internship, and felt that I could reach out to anyone on the team if I had a question. In addition, my 1-2-1 meetings with Louise allowed me to reflect on the work I have been doing and allowed us to provide feedback for each other, which was very valuable. There is a sense of equality and comfort in the company which makes it easy to talk to anyone regardless of their position.

Can you tell us some of your highlights from working at New Verve?

One of the main highlights from working at New Verve has definitely been being able to see the content I have made, such as blog posts and case studies on the website. It’s very rewarding to see the end product of the tasks I have completed and has been a huge learning curve for me. I have especially enjoyed completing case studies, as they require a bit more problem solving and allow me to learn about solutions that New Verve has offered in the past. The learning opportunities and support throughout this internship have been immense, and I felt like I was given the independence to pursue what I was interested in.

Another highlight for me has been the socials; it’s clear that New Verve puts a lot of effort into maintaining its work culture, and this is reflected through both the in-person and remote socials. The socials gave everyone an opportunity to wind down and learn more about each other, and were very valuable to me throughout my internship.

How have you made the most of your internship experience?

This internship experience has allowed me to reflect on what I enjoy about marketing, and pursue the aspects of it that I find the most interesting. The marketing team encouraged me and assisted me with any opportunities I wanted to follow, and even recommended Atlassian courses I could undertake as part of my enablement. Throughout the internship, it was clear that New Verve always considered what was in my best interest and gave me the freedom to grow and learn.

I felt that I have truly made the most of my internship by asking questions and finding out more about different areas of marketing. Looking back, I’m proud of the work I’ve completed and I’m so thankful to New Verve for providing me with the tools and support along the way. I was given opportunities to be responsible for certain tasks within the department, and this allowed me to further learn how to prioritise my workload and take responsibility in a real-life professional setting.

How do you feel about your career after this internship experience at New Verve?

After an extremely positive experience at New Verve, I feel even more sure of pursuing a career in marketing. By being able to gain valuable insight into the industry under such a supportive environment I had the best opportunity to learn about what a job in marketing would look like. I was lucky enough to have been offered to stay with New Verve in a permanent position, and I greatly look forward to what the future with the company brings, as well as staying within such a supportive working environment.

If you were to sum up your time at New Verve in a sentence - what would you say?

New Verve has supported me and allowed me to progress in such a valuable way; it’s clear that the company values its workers and aims to grow with them.

Jira Service Management and Confluence are both powerful, Atlassian-made tools but have you ever thought of using both tools together? You can streamline your Jira Service Management output and enhance your customer support experience by utilising Confluence’s native knowledge base capabilities.

By integrating Confluence and Jira Service management you can save your team time while still providing your top quality support. In this blog, we’ll take you through why you should be using these tools together, give you some helpful tips and explain the benefits for your team and customers.

Introduction to the tools

Jira Service Management (JSM) is Atlassian’s answer to service request management. It’s a service desk tool that allows you to easily receive, track, manage, and resolve requests from your customers and your team. By organizing and prioritizing these requests in a single place, JSM makes it simple to categorize service requests, incidents, problems, and changes and keeps your team on track with service-level agreements.

Confluence is a remote-friendly team workspace where teams can build, organise, and collaborate in one place. From projects, company policies and beyond, Atlassian’s wiki space allows company-wide collaboration with comments, mentions, notifications, and co-editing so everyone is kept up to speed.

Why integrate Jira Service Management and Confluence?

Create a knowledge base with Confluence

Using Confluence as a knowledge base allows you to store FAQs, how-tos, troubleshooting articles, and other helpful info that your team and customers may need to refer to. Confluence’s native features make this process very easy to get started and organise your space. The tool includes article templates, extensive page customisation options, a pre-configured overview page with the Livesearch and content by label macros.

You can take your knowledge base to the next level by integrating it with your service desk. Information shared within service desk issues has the potential to get lost in the text but by integrating a knowledge base, your team can capture and document valuable information in one place.

Recommend knowledge base articles within your service portal

You can make your knowledge base even more accessible by enabling auto-search within your service desk. This assists your customers in finding relevant information about their problems and can even provide solutions that they can read within Jira Service Management.

Not only does the process provide quick answers for customers, but it can also help save your team time by easily answering common requests. Atlassian reports that using a Confluence-powered knowledge base with Jira Service Management has been shown to deflect up to 45% of customer-reported requests.

Of course, there may be issues that your knowledge base is unable to solve alone and that’s where the seamless integration between Confluence and Jira Service Management really comes into effect. Users can easily share articles with customers within Jira Service Management, without interrupting their workflow. Admins can also view knowledge base articles in the Knowledge Base section of your JSM and quickly jump into Confluence to edit articles if needed.

Continuously improve your customer service with insights

So that your team can keep improving their customer service, Jira Service Management and Confluence provide built-in customer feedback features and comprehensive reporting. You can use this information to develop your knowledge base by cleaning up information or adding in missing solutions.

The Confluence and Jira Service Management integration makes it easy to create new articles from useful information in a request when the solution can’t be found. With just one click, admins can create new articles directly from a service desk issue.

Not only can you fill in the gaps in your knowledge base but you can also discover where answers could be streamlined. Insights from your knowledge base usage can help you to standardize answers to common customer questions instead of offering multiple responses from different sources or pages.

Capturing customer feedback and deflected ticket data is essential in improving your customer support as it can also highlight which articles are working well. It provides data supporting the success of your knowledge base through the deflected and resolved request insight reports.

Using Confluence with your Jira Service management allows you to harness the power of both tools and create a streamlined and user-friendly output. Not only can it save both your team and customers time, but it helps you enhance your customer support experience.

Want to get started with JSM or Confluence? Or maybe you’re using the tools already but are looking to power up your solution? Well, the New Verve team can help! Get in touch to speak to one of our Atlassian experts and we can help your team get the most out of your Atlassian tools.

​The project management world is abuzz; a new work management tool has come along to challenge the status quo. Plane has begun to gain traction within the work management sector. It operates as an open-source software development tool that can be used to effectively manage issues, sprints and product roadmaps. As Plane becomes fully realised, we thought it would be helpful to investigate features within Jira vs Plane, in order to assist your team in making a decision.

Introducing Jira and Plane

Jira is a software application developed by Atlassian which is primarily used for issue and bug tracking, alongside project management. Currently, it is estimated that Jira holds around 86.6% of the bug-and-issue-tracking market. This is partly due to the functionality within the software, which allows users to define their own processes and facilitate collaboration between team members. Jira software is typically used by companies that undertake an agile approach and can be used by a variety of business teams outside of software development and IT. In comparison to the other project management alternatives, Jira offers agile support, ensuring that your team feels confident in their decisions.

Plane, on the other hand, operates as an open-source project management tool that allows teams to manage all the relevant components of their product roadmap. Unlike Jira, Plane is powered by AI and is dependent on feedback from its users and the wider community to continue improving its product. This AI component was developed using OpenAI as a base, with LangChain being incorporated as an interface. Plane is composed of a specially selected tech stack, with Next.js acting on its front end, and Django for its back end. Additionally, Gateway and Pilot act as proxy servers and an interface for building integrations, respectively.

Despite having clear similarities, it is important to consider how each of these tools can be used to best benefit your team. We have decided to analyse the long-term capabilities of each project management tool, and how we believe they will assist your team.

Considering the Features Available: Jira vs Plane

Structure & Integrations

Jira

One of the main reasons for Jira’s popularity is its easily accessible and intuitively structured interface. Users are able to manage projects and tasks through a centralised hub within a Jira instance, which can be easily customised to meet a team’s needs. Teams are able to manage their projects in accordance with the agile methodology by tracking issues, collaborating and streamlining their workflows. In addition to this, Jira offers a multitude of integrations designed to improve workflow. Some of the most popular integrations include development tools Git, GitHub and Bitbucket, which allow users to keep track of any code-related information stored within Jira. Furthermore, integrations with collaboration tools such as Confluence and Slack facilitate effective communication within a team.

Plane

Similarly to Jira, Plane is structured with a clean and responsive interface which allows users to create issues and track them within projects. Plane also relies heavily on agile methodology, and allows users to effectively visualise their projects and track productivity. In contrast to Jira, Plane encourages users to make use of keyboard functions with the ‘Command + K’ menu, which stores all projects in one convenient location. As for integrations, Plane is currently synced with GitHub for teams using the cloud version, with other third-party integrations being a work in progress.

Workflow Automation

Jira

Jira allows users to easily automate any task without the need for coding through Jira Automation. In addition to the built-in automation within this feature, users are able to create custom automation rules that follow certain triggers, conditions and actions with just a few clicks. This makes workflow automation easy and accessible to all members of a team and ensures that progress remains consistent. This automation also works across a variety of platforms such as Slack, Bitbucket and GitHub, making integration between different platforms even smoother. Atlassian is also currently working on new AI features designed to offer assistance at any stage of use.

Plane

As an open-source tool which is powered by AI, Plane also provides users with many options for workflow automation. When creating an issue, users are given an automation option of “I’m feeling lucky” to add detail to their issue based on any information given. This is demonstrated below, where the main body of a ticket was generated simply by typing “Test” as a title and selecting the “I’m feeling lucky” option. Furthermore, the AI option in the ticket allows users to search for information or ask questions related to a ticket, without the need of searching outside the software.

Security & Reliability

Jira

Atlassian has long enforced a commitment to delivering a high level of security, reliability and privacy across their products. In addition to supporting various authentication methods, Jira offers robust user access controls designed to manage permissions and restrict access to information. Atlassian undertakes a layered approach towards their data protection, with tools such as a detection program, secure software development, and external penetration testing, users can be assured that their data is secured. Reliability is also closely monitored alongside this, with teams being offered a financially-backed SLA of 99.95%.

Plane

Plane states that security is one of its top priorities, with data encryption and regular security updates engineered to protect its user’s data. As Plane is still in its early days, reliability may be an issue. However, they have open communication channels on their Discord, GitHub and Twitter, where users can raise concerns regarding any bugs, alongside leaving suggestions for improvement. Plane is aware of the limitations of being a newcomer, and seems to be eager to work collaboratively with its users to create an even more reliable project management software.

Cost

Both Jira and Plane boast similar features designed to enhance your workflow. In terms of price, Jira offers more options. Teams can choose from four different subscription levels, which are determined based on team size, and have the option to pay either monthly or annually. As of now, Plane only offers a free subscription level, with their ‘Pro’ paid subscription coming soon.

Which system is most appropriate for your team?

While Jira is much more established than Plane, there seem to be a variety of interesting features in the works for the new project management software. However, it cannot be ignored that Plane is still in the early stages of its development, meaning that those looking to take a tried and tested approach will find more benefit from using Jira.

These tools sit at the heart of business-critical operations, therefore it’s important to know you can rely on them. While Plane certainly offers some interesting new features, we’d hesitate to move to this new tool while it’s still in those early stages. It’s one to watch - but our vote is still for Jira.

If you would like more information on how Jira compares to other project management tools, check out our various blogs on Atlassian products. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions!

Atlassian has finally released its long-anticipated dark mode theme for Trello; a new visual setting which improves accessibility options within the tool. This provides users with yet another way to personalise their Trello boards, offering further customisation to the pre-existing card covers, sticker and labels. In addition to this option being much requested, the developers at Trello have included a survey at the bottom of their system settings asking users to inform them of their preference!

Users can switch between light and dark themes on their Trello boards by clicking the circle displayed below, allowing for a quick and easy solution for those looking to adjust their boards. There’s also an automatic option, which follows the original system settings within your boards.

While utilising the dark mode function within Trello is completely dependent on personal preference, there are several advantages of this aesthetic choice. Firstly, dark mode reduces the amount of bright light emitted by a screen, making it easier on the eyes in the long run! In addition to the reduced eye strain, the contrast of the light text with a dark background can make it easier to read content, allowing users to focus on their tasks and stay engaged. As choosing dark mode is a personal preference, the benefits will vary, some individuals will find the design sleek and visually appealing, while other will prefer to stick with the traditional light mode. This feature allows users to make a choice and accommodates user preferences within its design.

In addition to adding a dark mode option, Atlassian also made some visual changes to their light mode displays. This included colour palette modernisations, which aligned their colour schemes more effectively with other Atlassian products. These changes take a step further to accommodate the needs of different teams alongside improving the overall user experience.

If you would like to find out more about Trello dark mode, read their newest blog on this development. If you feel ready to take your project management tooling to the next level, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Trello, a Kanban-based project management tool, uses Agile principles in order to accommodate collaboration within different teams. Through acting as a virtual whiteboard, Trello allows users to visualise tasks as a variety of boards, lists and cards, which can be moved through stages to measure progress. With its adaptable interface, this task management tool offers a variety of features that incorporate an iterative approach towards managing projects.

Trello relies heavily on collaboration, perhaps even more than other project management tools, with its boards focusing on encouraging visualisation within a working space. This allows team members to not only see the stages within their project but also the roles assigned to other team members, allowing progress to be tracked every step of the way.

While Trello is a non-complex software that allows for the simple implementation of Agile and Scrum methodology, it is important to consider how the tools available can best benefit your project. To aid you in this task, we’ve put together some tips which will help you make the most of Trello for Agile Project Management.

1. Take advantage of the dynamic interface

In addition to allowing users to visualise a project in accordance with the needs of the team, Trello allows you to reorder cards from list to list, taking into account the changing priorities within a project. When using cards, the software allows you to further break down tasks by creating subtasks through checklists – making it easier to interpret the details of a project.

One of the main advantages of Trello is that it can be adapted to meet the needs of your project, allowing you to implement a variety of Agile frameworks, including Scrum and Kanban. Trello also offers templates of boards used within Agile Project Management, meaning that team members can focus on solving problems from the instant they choose this software.

2. Make use of internal checklists

As mentioned previously, cards within Trello allow the user to create internal checklists, breaking down complex tasks into smaller, manageable subtasks. This process encourages the team to consider the individual steps that are involved in completing a task and ensure that nothing essential is missing.

Team members are encouraged to take responsibility for their own tasks within a checklist, and by marking items as completed within Trello, other members of the team are provided with a visual representation of progress. Checklists are also flexible, in line with Agile philosophy, tasks can be reordered, added or deleted, reflecting the current needs of the team and allowing for a shift in project dynamics.

3. Attach document links and images

Within Trello, images can be added not only to give context to a task but to also make the board more engaging. By adding images to a Trello board, team members can have a clearer understanding of the needs of the project, which can lead to fewer miscommunications and more efficient collaboration. Additionally, through adding images to the cover of a card, team members are able to understand the content without having to open it. Images within cards can also be annotated by any other collaborator, making it easier to communicate feedback or suggest changes.

Further context can be added within Trello boards with the use of document link functions, providing a convenient place to store a record of important information. Such documentation allows team members to use cards as a source for future reference and ensures that all team members have access to the most up-to-date information about the project.

4. Save time with card search

In addition to encouraging users to add substantial detail to their cards, Trello allows team members to search for specific cards by typing within the search box at the top of the page. Cards can be found by searching for keywords, labels, or any other information relating to the card. Labels within Trello allow users to add an extra layer of information, leading to more effective search capabilities. Cards can also be found in accordance with specific parameters with the advanced keyword search, such as members assigned and attachments.

These functions save a substantial amount of time for the team when navigating through different projects. The card search tool also integrates into a variety of different platforms within the Atlassian space, allowing cards to be found even if they have been stored externally.

5. Be aware of the automation functions available

Trello has a built-in automation system that allows users to eliminate tedious and repetitive tasks, enhancing productivity within the team. Such automation is carried out by performing actions based on predefined triggers or rules which can be adapted by team members.

By streamlining your workflow through Trello’s integrated automation functions, teams are able to focus more energy on the important tasks within cards. Teams can automate the creation of Trello cards from a variety of Atlassian products, including Slack messages. All automation within Trello is dictated by the team’s customisation , allowing users to tailor their Trello experience to best meet their needs.

Overall, Trello offers a systematic and visual approach towards Agile Project Management, allowing teams to collaborate and communicate effectively. With its customisable functions, users are able to take advantage of a versatile platform that works to meet their needs.

Get in touch with our team if you would like to get started with Trello.

For more information on the pros of Cloud migration - check out this blog. We won’t be covering why you should move to Cloud here, so if you still need convincing then that’s the blog for you!

Our Atlassian Cloud FAQs

How Long Does an Average Migration Take?

This is a common question from our clients at the outset of their migration, as they want an indication of how long it will take to complete the project. Unfortunately, this is one of those ‘how long is a piece of string?’ questions, as the time the migration takes will vary greatly depending on its complexity and your preparedness.

We’re here as an implementation partner, so we’ll help you audit your instance and suggest which stakeholders should be involved in various processes. Atlassian offers a Cloud Readiness Assessment, which will help you to understand some of the complicating factors that might extend the time it takes to move your instance to Cloud.

Is Atlassian Cloud Secure?

If you’re accustomed to hosting your own data on-premises, you may have concerns about security when that’s no longer in your hands. Atlassian has made extensive reassurances concerning security - you can find their reportage here.

The key take away is that Atlassian goes above and beyond to keep its customer data secure. They not only follow all industry best practices, but implement their own high standards too. Their security practices aren’t reactive either, they proactively engage in testing, third-party audits, and disaster recovery scenarios.

Is Atlassian Cloud Reliable?

Alongside security, reliability is closely monitored within Atlassian Cloud. Atlassian understands that businesses often store critical information in Confluence and rely on Jira for important processes, so they offer a financially-backed SLA of 99.95%. This ensures that you can use these tools with confidence!

How does Atlassian Process Data and is it UKGDPR/GDPR Compliant?

Data security is a concern for many companies looking to move to Cloud. GDPR and UKGDPR are essential to comply with and IT teams are often tasked with doing this due diligence before moving to a new tool.

Atlassian tools all comply with the requirements of these edicts - they have a full list of commitments to GDPR on their site.

However, it’s up to you to ensure that specific data is only accessible to those that should be able to view it and that deletion takes place in a timely manner when requested. Using permissions and being considerate about what data you store will help you to stay compliant when using Atlassian tooling.

Are All Marketplace Apps Available on Cloud?

While most developers are aware of the substantial benefits of making their apps available for Cloud, not every product has a Cloud version. However, the Atlassian Marketplace is so vast that there are often equivalents that are Cloud-ready.

Many app developers place more resources into developing for the Cloud version of an app, if they have both server and Cloud versions. This means that you may actually be able to access more features than you’re accustomed to on the server version.

How Much Does Atlassian Cloud Cost?

The exact cost that you can expect to pay for your subscription will vary depending on how many users you have, which products you’d like to use, and which plan you select. Atlassian offer a Cloud Pricing Calculator that you can use to get a rough estimate of what your standing software subscription will cost post-migration.

How Does Atlassian Cloud Compare to the Competition?

There are several other options out there for project management and productivity tools - each with its own pros and cons. More than 250,000 companies trust Atlassian products and Jira boasts the title of #1 software development tool for agile teams. If you’d like to learn more about how Atlassian tools stack up in terms of features and pricing, check out our in-depth Jira comparison and Confluence comparison blogs.

We hope that we’ve covered some of the burning questions you may have about Atlassian Cloud with our FAQs, but if you want to find out more and get advice on your circumstances - get in touch with our team. We’d be happy to answer any questions that you may have about your journey to Cloud and how we can help you get there.

Jira, unlike more traditional project management tools, uses an agile approach to project development. In fact, Jira is the #1 software development tool used by agile teams. Jira can be used for Scrum and Kanban boards that offer teams collaboration and continuous improvement but it’s Jira Workflows that can really enhance your teamwork.

Every team has its own way of getting a task across the finish line and a workflow is a visual representation of this. Jira workflows are made up of statuses and transitions; they are designed to fit every project or team and help you increase transparency, accountability, and productivity.

When creating a workflow, you can use Jira’s range of templates or create a custom workflow from scratch. However, getting started with workflows can be daunting so we’ve put together these tips to help you transform your teamwork.

Our Jira workflow best practices

Involve stakeholders when creating workflows

The number one tip when building a workflow is to remember who will be using it; the workflow needs to work for them. There may be multiple stakeholders within your team, such as a product manager, software engineer, product designer or content designer. We recommend getting each of them involved in the process of building your workflow.

Once you’ve created the workflow, make sure they have the chance to check it over and highlight any areas that need improvement. If you don’t, you run the risk of creating impractical statuses and transitions and you may even miss workflow rules that could help your team.

Finally, we suggested making stakeholder reviews a continuous process. Workflows are always evolving and it’s important that they grow with your team.

Keep your workflow agile

The thing that sets Jira apart from the rest is its native agile processes. Your workflow should change and adapt as your teams and processes evolve. When it comes to Jira, everything is iterative and you don’t have to worry about perfecting workflows the first time.

This is where your team’s feedback is invaluable - they’re the ones working with Jira so they know where changes are needed. Agile may not come easily to your team (they might be more used to a ‘set and forget’ approach). However, it’s worth keeping in mind that workflows serve your team’s needs at the current time so they have to adapt as your needs change.

Create a workflow that works for your team

…not everyone else! Every team has their own set of requirements and not every workflow works for every team. While a certain status and transition may work for one issue type, it might not work for another and some issue types may require specific statuses and transitions, or even restrictions and automations that only work for them.

You can, of course, use workflow templates or duplicate workflows but remember that to maximise potential, your team need a tool made just for them. Putting in the effort to begin with makes it far easier to scale and adapt workflows in the future and opens up the possibilities of what your workflow can be.

Keep your workflow simple

While it may be tempting to add as much information as possible, with Jira there’s actually such a thing as too much detail. Your team have to be able to use and understand your workflow so overusing custom fields can lead to slower response times on Jira issues and avoidable holdups.

Instead, we recommend setting standard practices across your team for workflow customisation to minimise compatibility issues. Whenever something is added to or changed in your workflow, you should be thinking back to how this will affect your team, and therefore, affect your customers.

Each status and transition you include creates more complexity for your team. After mapping out how your team works, limit the number of statuses and transitions and focus on the ones that mean the most to your team. A simple structure is often more effective.

Test your workflow

Testing Jira workflows as you create them is a fine balance. If you don’t test them enough, your errors will build up, creating a bigger set of problems for you to fix. However, testing too much and too early in the process can hinder your progress and you won’t be able to move as quickly as you’d like.

Two ways to test effectively is to either test before you pass the workflow onto your team in a separate Jira project or instance. Or, test with your team in your actual project. This testing can become continuous and part of the agile process outlined above.

Make use of Jira apps

Jira workflows can be enhanced by the large number of apps available on Atlassian Marketplace. In fact, there are over 3,000 apps, add-ons and plugins that can be adapted to suit the needs of your team.

Take our app, Crumbs, for example. It is the simple CRM for Jira that lets you see customer information in context by linking a Jira issue to a customer. Unified customer data in Crumbs is accessible to Sales, Marketing, and pretty much any other function you can think of!

You can check out some more of our favourite Jira apps in our blog - How to get the most out of Jira Cloud with Integrations.

Stick to these tips, and you’ll have workflows that help your team increase transparency, accountability, and productivity. For more advice or Jira help, get in touch and we can answer all your questions.