How do you digitize processes with Jira (Cloud)?

The same routine tasks in Jira day after day. Create tickets, perform status updates, generate reports. It feels like a hamster wheel that you can't break out of. Every click, every input robs you of valuable time - time that could be used for more important tasks. Digital processes are the solution for many manual tasks in Jira. But how do you digitize processes with Jira (Cloud)? Find out here!

The hidden costs of manual processes

• Waste of timeHours disappear in repetitive tasks. Imagine spending two hours a day on manual updates. That's 10 hours a week, 40 hours a month - a whole working week lost to creative and strategic tasks.
• Susceptibility to errorsWherever people work, mistakes happen. An incorrectly set due date, a forgotten assignment or an overlooked update can lead to misunderstandings, delays and frustration in the team.
• FrustrationMonotonous tasks lower morale. Your team was hired to develop creative solutions and solve problems, not to fill out endless forms. Constant repetition of the same tasks can lead to demotivation and reduced productivity.
• InefficiencyResources are not being used optimally. While you and your team are busy with administrative tasks, important strategic initiatives fall by the wayside.

When manual processes get out of hand

Imagine what your day-to-day work would look like if you didn't change anything. The mountains of tickets grow, important updates get lost and your team loses track of things. Projects are delayed, deadlines are missed and quality suffers.

The domino effect of inefficiency

1. Declining productivityYour team spends more time on administration than on value-adding activities. Instead of developing new features or solving customer problems, they fight their way through a jungle of tickets and status updates.
2. Customer dissatisfactionDelays and errors lead to disappointed customers. If projects are delayed or important updates are overlooked, your customers will feel it too. Their patience is strained and, in the worst case scenario, they move on to the competition.
3. Competitive disadvantageWhile you are busy with routine tasks, your competitors are innovating. They use modern tools and processes to work faster and more efficiently while you are still busy keeping track of things.
4. Danger of burn-outConstant time pressure and monotony put a strain on your team. The combination of working overtime to meet deadlines and the frustration of repetitive tasks can lead to exhaustion and increased staff turnover.

Imagine a typical working day: You come into the office, open Jira and see a flood of notifications. 20 new tickets have been created, 15 are waiting for updates, and the project manager is asking for a detailed progress report. You know you'll spend half the day dealing with these administrative tasks before you even get to your actual work. And tomorrow? The same thing all over again.

The good news? There is a way out.

The solution: Jira Cloud for process digitization

Jira Cloud offers powerful tools for optimizing and digitizing workflows. In this guide, you will learn how to digitize processes with Jira and how you can use the platform step by step to make your workflows more efficient.

1. inventory and analysis

Before you get started, get an overview:

• Identify recurring tasksPerform an audit of your daily, weekly and monthly tasks. Which activities do you constantly repeat? Examples could be: creating standard tickets, assigning tasks based on certain criteria, generating status reports, creating new projects or users with authorization rights.
• Analyze the time spent on manual processesUse time tracking tools or keep a detailed logbook for a week. How much time do you actually spend on manual updates in Jira? You'll be surprised how the minutes add up to hours.
• Prioritize tasks according to automation potentialNot everything must or should be automated. Evaluate each task according to two criteria: Frequency and complexity. Frequent, simple tasks are ideal candidates for the first wave of automation.

TipUse Jira's time tracking function to get accurate data. Activate it for a week in your projects and analyze where the most time is lost.

2. set up automation rules

Jira's "Automation for Jira" is your magic wand for efficient processes. This powerful feature allows you to automate complex workflows without writing a single line of code.

This is how it works:

1. Navigate to "Project settings" > "Automation"
2. Click on "Create rule"
3. Select a trigger, e.g. "Ticket created"
4. Define conditions and actions

Example - Digital process with JiraAutomatic assignment of tickets based on priority and area of expertise

This rule ensures that high-priority backend tickets immediately receive the right attention without you having to intervene manually.

Other useful automations:

• Automatic status changes based on activities (e.g. setting a ticket to "In progress" when someone is working on it)
• Reminders for overdue tickets
• Automatic creation of subtasks for certain ticket types

3. optimize workflows

Customized workflows significantly increase efficiency. A well-designed workflow reflects your actual work processes and eliminates unnecessary steps.

Steps for workflow optimization:

1. Analyze your current workflowRecord your existing process. Where are there delays or ambiguities?
2. Identify bottlenecks and unnecessary stepsAre there statuses in which tickets linger for a long time? Or transitions that are rarely used?
3. Design an optimized workflowSimplify where possible. Add automations to speed up transitions.
4. Implement the new workflow in JiraUse Jira's visual workflow editor to implement your optimized process.

Example of an optimized development workflow:

Open -> In progress -> Code review -> QA testing -> Ready for release -> Done

With automations:

• Ticket automatically switches to "In progress" when a developer creates a branch
• When a pull request is created, the ticket changes to "Code Review"
• After a successful build and tests, it automatically switches to "QA Testing"

Best PracticeKeep workflows lean. Less is often more! Too many statuses lead to confusion and slow down the process.

4. use templates and templates

Standardization saves time and reduces errors. With well thought-out templates, you can ensure that all important information is recorded right from the start.

How to use templates effectively:

1. Create templates for common ticket typesDevelop templates for bugs, feature requests, support requests, etc. Each template should have all the necessary fields and a clear structure.
2. Define standard fields and descriptionsUse Jira's customizable fields to capture important information in a structured way. For a bug report this could be: reproduction steps, expected vs. actual behavior, environment.
3. Train your team in the use of templatesMake sure that everyone knows how and when to use which template.

Example template for a bug report:

Title: [Short, concise description of the problem]

Description:
1. steps to reproduction:
   a.
   b.
   c.

2. expected behavior:

3. actual behavior:

4. environment:
   - Browser/app version:
   - Operating system:
   - Other relevant details:

5. screenshots/videos:
   [Insert relevant visual evidence here]

6. additional information:
   [Anything else that might be helpful]

Practical tipCreate a "template directory" as a Jira page for easy access. Here you can list all available templates and explain when to use them.

5. integrations and add-ons

Extend Jira's functionality through targeted integrations. The right connections can harmonize your entire tool landscape and break down data silos.

Recommended integrations:

• Slack: For seamless communication
  • Automatic notifications for important ticket updates
  • Ability to create or comment on Jira tickets directly from Slack
  • Example workflow: A critical bug is reported -> Jira ticket is created -> Automatic notification in the #critical-issues Slack channel
• Confluence: For documentation and knowledge management
  • Link Jira tickets directly to relevant Confluence pages
  • Automatic creation of project documentation based on Jira data
  • Example: A new feature ticket automatically creates a Confluence page for the technical specification
• GitLab/GitHub: For optimized developer management
  • Automatic linking of commits and pull requests with Jira tickets
  • Status updates in Jira based on Git activities
  • Example: A push in the "feature/new-login" branch automatically updates the status of the associated Jira ticket to "In development"

Add-on tipScriptRunner" enables in-depth customization and automation. With this powerful tool you can:

• Create complex, user-defined automations
• Generate reports and dashboards with advanced data manipulation
• Create custom REST endpoints for integrations with other systems

Example script with ScriptRunner (Groovy):

import com.atlassian.jira.component.ComponentAccessor

def issueManager = ComponentAccessor.getIssueManager()
def customFieldManager = ComponentAccessor.getCustomFieldManager()

def targetProjectKey = "PROJ"
def targetIssueType = "Bug"
def daysSinceCreation = 7

def jqlSearch = jqlSearchHelper.searchJql("""
    project = ${targetProjectKey} AND
    issuetype = ${targetIssueType} AND
    created 
    def comment = commentManager.create(issue, "automaticUser",
        "This ticket has been open for over a week. Please check and update.", false)
}

This script identifies open bugs that are older than one week and automatically adds a comment to remind the team to check them.

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6. automate dashboards and reports

Automated reporting makes data-driven decisions easier. Well-designed dashboards give you and your team a quick overview of the project status and help to identify problems at an early stage.

How to set up effective dashboards:

1. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs)Consider which metrics are most important for your project. Examples could be:
   • Processing time of tickets (from creation to completion)
   • Number of open vs. closed tickets per week
   • Distribution of tickets according to priority or type
   • Burndown chart for sprints or releases
2. Create gadgets for each KPIJira offers a variety of gadgets that you can use for your dashboards:
   • "Problems created vs. problems solved" for an overview of the workload
   • "Two-dimensional filter result" for a detailed breakdown of tickets
   • "Sprint health" for Scrum teams
   • Custom gadgets with JQL for specific requirements
3. Arrange gadgets in a clearly arranged dashboard:
   • Place the most important information at the top left
   • Group related gadgets
   • Use colors and icons for quick visual capture
4. Schedule automatic report dispatch:
   • Set up automatic email notifications for important dashboards
   • Set stakeholders to receive automatically generated reports on a weekly or monthly basis

Example dashboard for a development team:

+------------------------+------------------------+
| Sprint Burndown | Open tickets by |
| | Priority |
+------------------------+------------------------+
| Recently closed | | Average |
| closed tickets | processing time |
+------------------------+------------------------+
| Upcoming Deadlines | Team Workload |
| | |
+------------------------+------------------------+

Visualization tipUse different chart types for clear data presentation. Bar charts are good for comparisons, line charts for trends over time, and pie charts for distributions.

7. continuous improvement

Digitization is an ongoing process. Stay on the ball! Technology is constantly evolving and your team requirements may change too.

Steps towards continuous optimization:

1. Collect regular feedback from the team:
   • Conduct monthly or quarterly retrospectives, especially on the topic of Jira usage
   • Create a dedicated Jira board for improvement suggestions where team members can submit ideas
   • Sample questions for feedback:
     • Which manual tasks still take up too much time?
     • Which automations have proven to be particularly useful?
     • Are there any workflows or fields that are unclear or superfluous?
2. Analyze usage data and efficiency metrics:
   • Use Jira's built-in analytics tools to measure usage and efficiency
   • Watch out for trends such as:
     • Average processing time for tickets
     • Frequency of status changes
     • Use of custom fields and automation
3. Experiment with new automations:
   • Keep an eye out for repetitive patterns in ticket processing
   • Test new automation rules in a sandbox project before introducing them in the production system
   • Example of advanced process digitization with Jira Cloud:

4. Continuously train your team in Jira best practices:
   • Organize regular training sessions on new functions or optimizations
   • Create an internal knowledge database with tips, tricks and best practices
   • Promote Jira champions in the team who can help others with questions

TipSet up a Jira board specifically for suggestions for improvement. This could look like this:

+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Proposals | In discussion | In implementation | Implemented |
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| - New Auto- | - Dashboard for | - Integration | - Automatic |
| mization | team workload | with Slack | prioritization |
for bugs | | | of tickets | |
Custom field | | | | |
| for customer satisfaction
| satisfaction
+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+

Conclusion: How to digitize processes with Jira

Digitizing your processes with Jira Cloud is not a one-off project, but a journey. With every automated workflow, every optimized process, you gain back valuable time. Time that you can invest in innovation, customer satisfaction and team development.

Imagine what your working day could look like in six months' time:

• You come into the office in the morning and open your Jira dashboard. You can see the status of all important projects at a glance.
• New tickets were automatically categorized, prioritized and assigned to the right teams overnight.
• Your team works efficiently because clear workflows and automation take over many administrative tasks.
• Stakeholders receive automatically generated reports without you having to spend time manually collating data.
• You have more time for strategic tasks, innovation and direct collaboration with your team.

Every small step towards digitalization is a leap forward for your company. Investing in the optimization of your Jira processes pays off several times over - through increased productivity, higher employee satisfaction and better project results.

[CTA] - Process digitization case study / success story

Further resources:

• Official Jira documentation: Here you will find detailed instructions for all Jira functions.
• Atlassian Community for peer supportExchange ideas with other Jira users and find solutions to specific challenges.
• Jira Automation CookbookA collection of useful automation recipes for various scenarios.
• Atlassian UniversityOfficial courses and certifications for Jira and other Atlassian products.

Start your digitalization journey with Jira Cloud now and transform your work processes for a more efficient, productive future!