Odds are, you know what Jira is at a very basic level: Project management software. But, it’s much deeper than that. Perhaps you’re looking for something to help manage all of your work personally. Maybe you’re looking for something to keep tabs on an entire team… or maybe even an organization! I have used Jira as a single user, as a member of a larger team, and with multiple teams utilizing it.

I have stuck with Jira for years because of how flexible the system can be. Does it have its faults? Of course, every piece of software does. But, it always comes through for me.

Remember, while this will all seem complex at first, leaning on these basic concepts are going to make you an expert in no time!

What is Jira?

Jira is, at its core, just a giant to do list for everyone who is using it. But… it’s better than just a simple little to do list. It allows you to plan, track, and get things done!

I have seen Jira used by many different teams. Agile teams, waterfall teams, all kinds of teams. Even if (gasp!) you’re a team of one! That’s exactly how I started using Jira.

Projects

Projects are like having a separate to-do list for each major area you’re focusing on. Each project has its own unique name and collects all of the to-do list items. Each “Project” keeps to-dos organized and relevant to a specific focus area, helping you manage and prioritize your work efficiently. So, when you open Jira, you’re not just seeing one long list of everything; you’re seeing organized lists (Projects) that let you focus on what’s important right now.

When Projects are created, they always have a Project Name and a Project Key. The name, as you’d probably guess, is the name of the project. For example, “House Build.” The Project Key is an abbreviation or short name for the project. For example, “HOUSE.”

Each to-do list item will be uniquely identified by combining the Project Key and a sequential number: HOUSE-1, HOUSE-2, … HOUSE-24, HOUSE-25, etc.

Issues

Without issues, Jira wouldn’t exist. The to-do list items are called “Issues” in Jira. Issues are the work items that need to get completed. Your primary goal when using Jira, is to keep all of the issues assigned to you updated.

Here are some examples of issues you could see:

• Design and Build Kitchen
• As a Homeowner, I want the kitchen to be oversized and have a brushed bronze finish.
• Gather a list of plumbing showrooms that offer kitchen faucets.
• Call each store to book an appointment.
• When setting faucet temperature, hot is cold and cold is hot- these need reversed.

Issue Types

You’ll notice that some of these issues are big, small, and in between. That is the beauty of Jira- it’s so incredibly flexible. We can classify issues as different types depending on what kind of work needs to be completed. Issue types are Here are the standard issue types:

Epic

An Epic collects a bunch of issues together. It brings together Stories, Bugs, Tasks, and Sub-tasks. If we were building a house, an example of an Epic could be “Design and Build the Kitchen”

Story

A Story is a requirement from your end-user. They’re typically written in the following format: “As a Title I want Requirement.” In our building a house example, a Story could be “As the Homeowner, I want the kitchen faucet to be oversized and have a brushed bronze finish.”

Task

A task is just something that needs to be done. This could be also thought of as the item on your to do list. An example of a Task is “Gather list of plumbing showrooms that offer kitchen faucets.”

Sub-Task

A sub-task can breakdown a task even further. For example, “Call each store and book an appointment.”

Bug

A bug is something that isn’t working as it was intended to and needs to be fixed. For example, “When setting faucet temperature, hot is cold and cold is hot.”

Hierarchy

Now, I previously said that an “Epic” collects a bunch of issues together. Which means… there is a hierarchy to how issues are created.

Epics collect Stories, Bugs, Tasks, and Sub-Tasks. The hierarchy looks a little like this:

Up Next

Up next, I want to talk about what an issue looks like and what kind of information you can find in it.