The document outlines key strategies and best practices for using Jira software effectively within agile teams, including tips on managing boards, estimation, and planning sessions. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration, engaging team members during estimation, and adapting workflows to improve efficiency. Additionally, it presents ways to enhance sprint planning and execution, such as using themed standups and setting measurable sprint goals.

1. NICK PELLOW
DEV MANAGER • ATLASSIAN
@NIICK
BRYDIE MCCOY
TEAM LEAD • ATLASSIAN
Black belt tips
For JIRA Software

2. Photo of the JIRA Software Team

4. Some assumptions first

5. You’re in a software team
Software is eating the world after all :)

6. You “get” boards
Boards are just backed by a JQL
filter.
Even across multiple projects!

7. You are agile
Scrum - time based sprints!
Kanban - where work flows

8. Michael Tokar: JIRA Platform
Esther Asenjo: Atlassian Purchasing
Ed Zhang: JIRA Service Desk
Andy Drizen : JIRA Mobile

9. Esther Asenjo
Team lead on Atlassian Purchasing

10. Separate estimation from
planning

11. Time to go into detailFocused Identify your blockers
Separate estimation session

12. Photo of team doing planning.
Someone is looking out the
window, bored

14. Epics and quick filters to
focus the content

15. Epic panel

16. Click to filter

18. Quick filters

19. “Story Points” is EMPTY
Status in ("To Do", "Ready for Dev”)
labels = squirtle-squad
Quick filter JQL
Unestimated
Not Started
Sub team

20. Issue detail panel

21. Customise your board’s
issue detail view

22. Stay in the context
of your backlog
Customise to
have relevant fields
Edit any field
inline

23. Photo of the meeting with
someone saying that we need a
new issue

24. Create issue

25. Create issue in
epic

26. Inline issue create

27. Create issue
inline

28. Epic
Label
Sprint
Version
Component
And more..Project
Assignee
Populates fields based on filters

29. When stories get too big:
Split issue

31. Right click

32. The keyboard
shortcuts to success

33. Assign to meAssign

34. Send to bottomSend to top
+ +

35. Use the dot

36. The dot dialog

37. Photo of team interested and
engaged

38. Michael Tokar: JIRA Platform
Esther Asenjo: Atlassian Purchasing
Ed Zhang: JIRA Service Desk
Andy Drizen : JIRA Mobile

39. Andy Drizen
JIRA Mobile team lead and SCRUM guru!

40. Estimating is
hard!
So keep it fresh!
Planning poker
Some > none
Sometimes so hard, plenty of teams
skip it entirely…
Can often seem very arbitrary.
Hard to calibrate a team on story
points
Low engagement == low
commitment

41. Relative estimation

42. Assign story pointsOrder cardsPlanning prep
Rough set of stories
for sprint.
Prints the agile cards.
From simplest to most
complex
Start with simplest
set: 1s
Then next simplest
set: 3s, etc etc
Relative estimation

46. Simple
Complex

52. New story!

53. 1s

54. 1s
3s

55. 1s
3s
5s

56. 1s
3s
5s
8s
13s?

57. 3s
1s
5s
8s

58. Relative
estimation
sessions
:) More involvement
:) Easier to estimate
Faster to compare 2 stories than all
the stories!
Having tangible cards on a table is
fun! No open laptops!
:( Extra data entry
An extra data-entry step
afterwards.
May lose some of the discussion

59. Michael Tokar: JIRA Platform
Esther Asenjo: Atlassian Purchasing
Ed Zhang: JIRA Service Desk
Andy Drizen : JIRA Mobile

60. Michael Tokar
Tokes
JIRA Platform team lead

61. Automated workflow
triggers

62. • Big cool statistic
• 2,56
9
• Add-Ons in Marketplace

63. The board is backed
by a workflow
The workflow should
be flexible
Issues can move to
any status

64. Adding the trigger

65. Branch created
Pull request merged
Deployment successful
Type your annotation here,
the dotted line can be
moved and/or re-sized.

66. Branch created
Pull request merged
Deployment successful
Type your annotation here,
the dotted line can be
moved and/or re-sized.

67. Branch naming
conventions

68. feature/JSW-3429_editable_issue_details
<prefix>/<issue-key>_<description>

69. • Big cool statistic
• 2,56
9
• Add-Ons in Marketplace

70. Branch created
Pull request merged
Deployment successful
Type your annotation here,
the dotted line can be
moved and/or re-sized.

71. Master means
customers
Definition of Done
includes ‘deployed’
‘Awaiting deployment’
as a holding ground
On pull request merged

72. Branch created
Pull request merged
Deployment successful
Type your annotation here,
the dotted line can be
moved and/or re-sized.

73. Branch
created
Pull request
merged
Deployment
successful

74. One pull request per
issue

75. The
Experiment
Its not perfect:
Each team is different:
Experiment:
Introduce slowly, allow for critique
Find the ones that work for you
Perfection is not necessary to
make an impact

76. Michael Tokar: JIRA Platform
Esther Asenjo: Atlassian Purchasing
Ed Zhang: JIRA Service Desk
Andy Drizen : JIRA Mobile

77. Ed Zhang
JIRA Service Desk team lead

78. Sprints are
tough…
Quality of demos
Lack of focus
Lack of progress
Are we there yet ?
Many, unrelated streams of work in
flight
Bad reflection on the team
Bad vibe in the team

79. Sprint goals

80. MeasurableDemo drivenDecide as a team
With input from PM,
however team needs
buy-in & commitment
During pre-planning,
imagine what the
demo will be like
Be specific.
Build your
measurement first!
Sprint goals

81. D3 conversion demoable and the dashboard
performance improved by 10% on 9 August
SERVICEDESK #SPRINTGOAL
“
”

82. Build measurement
first

87. Applause

88. Standups!

89. Traditional
Standups…
Justification
Bit of a chore
People centric
All attendees talk…
Are you talking about the most
important stuff?
Humans are human - and will want
to justify themselves in this setting

90. Task centric standups

95. Themed sprints: this release is Movies
Sprint goals

96. Build a standup board

100. Task-centric
standup
Participants only
Less waffle
Leaner
“Cut our standup time in half!”
Use this time wisely to discuss
what’s important - the actual work!
Only active sprint participants will
talk

101. Automatic workflow triggers
Separate estimation sessions
Epics and quick filters
Our Black Belt tips for JIRA Software

102. Relative estimation
Sprint goals
Task centric standups
Our Black Belt tips for JIRA Software

103. Split issue
Create issues inline
Use the dot
Our Black Belt tips for JIRA Software

104. Applause

105. Thank you!
BRYDIE MCCOY
TEAM LEAD • ATLASSIAN
NICK PELLOW
DEV MANAGER • ATLASSIAN
@NIICK

106. Questions *
* conditions apply

107. In which version of
JIRA was JQL
introduced?

108. 4.0

109. What JQL allows you
to find all issues
created in the past 2
weeks?

110. created > -14d

111. Find all issues in an
open sprint?

112. Sprint in openSprints()

113. Select all issues
where the label ‘foo’
does NOT exist?

115. labels != “foo” OR labels is EMPTY

116. Thank you!
BRYDIE MCCOY
TEAM LEAD • ATLASSIAN
NICK PELLOW
DEV MANAGER • ATLASSIAN
@NIICK