Jira is one of the most widely used project management tools for agile teams. Here is everything you need to get from first login to sprint reporting.
Creating Your Account and First Project
Jira is free for teams of one to ten users. Once you are in, create a new project, select Software Development and choose the Scrum template. For most users, Team Managed is the right choice as it keeps your project self-contained. Company Managed is worth knowing about if you have multiple projects that need central administration by Jira admins.
Give your project a name and Jira will generate a short key that appears on every card.
Setting Up Your Epics
Your two main workspaces are the Backlog and the Board. Start in the Backlog.
Open the Epic panel by pressing E or clicking the option in the panel. Epics are your high-level features. Click Create Epic to add one and assign each a different color so you can track which work belongs where as the board fills up.
Building Your Backlog
With epics in place, start adding user stories by clicking Create. Each card can be typed as a story, bug or other work type. Custom types like risks or spikes are available through Manage Types.
Click any card to open its details. From there you can assign it to an epic, set its status, assign it to a team member and add story point estimates. Add a description to capture acceptance criteria and any supporting information.
Creating and Starting a Sprint
Click Create Sprint, set the duration and select a start date. Jira calculates the end date automatically. Add a sprint goal to give the team a clear focus.
Move cards into the sprint by dragging them from the backlog or right-clicking and selecting the target sprint. Keep an eye on story point totals and match them to your team’s velocity. When ready, click Start Sprint and your cards move onto the board.
Working the Board
The board displays your active sprint in columns. Add new columns by clicking the plus symbol on the right and dragging them into position. Custom filters through Manage Custom Filters use JQL (Jira Query Language) to adjust the board view. A simple filter showing only cards assigned to the current user is a good starting point.
Completing a Sprint and Reading Reports
At the end of the sprint, click Complete Sprint. Unfinished cards roll over automatically. Review your backlog, confirm priorities with the product owner and start the next sprint when the team is ready.
After two or three sprints, navigate to Reports to start tracking performance. The Velocity Report shows story points committed versus completed across recent sprints, giving you a reliable average to plan against. The Sprint Burndown Chart tracks work coming down over the course of a sprint against the ideal trend line, making it easy to spot if the team is falling behind mid-sprint.
Using the Timeline as a Roadmap
The Timeline view shows your epics and user stories laid out across time, similar to a Gantt chart. Drag items to adjust dates and use this view to communicate progress and upcoming features to stakeholders. It is one of the clearest ways to show where the product is heading and when things will be delivered.
Set up your epics, build your backlog, match your work to your velocity and use the reports to keep improving. It is a straightforward tool once you know where everything lives.
– David McLachlan
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