Jira basics

Never worked with Jira before? No problem. In this chapter we cover some of the basics, so you know how to get started.

Project

Data inside Jira is organised in 'projects'. A project is a collection of items that relate to the same topic.

YME uses Jira mostly for IT work. As such, you can see that most projects relate to specific applications, for example for B2B or B2C.

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Three projects are different, and relate to the future YME way of working:

• Yamaha Applications Support Desk (SD) captures all requests from end-users, who experience difficulties with their day-to-day use of IT applications. These items are validated, then if valid resolved as soon as possible.
• Yamaha IS Projects (YIS) captures all work of scrum teams in the Agile Transformation. These processes are being streamlined to support scrum processes, and make Jira a tool for collaboration more than administration.
• Yamaha Portfolio Board (YPM) collects all ideas for IT initiatives, and validates the business case and expected rewards for implementing such initiatives before assigning work to development teams. It's very much about preparing work.
• Other projects capture work for teams that have not yet joined the Agile Transformation.

Team board

The data within projects can be filtered and visualised per team, in specific team boards. There are two flavours available: Scrum boards and Kanban boards.

Scrum board

In the Agile Scrum framework, focus lies on short iterations of work: planning what can be done (at YME) within 2 weeks of time. 

• As such, we see an active sprint with items in it (centre screen).
• These items are organised into larger topics called Epics (left screen list, but also the coloured labels on centre screen items).
• When one item is clicked, the details are shown (right screen sidebar).

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Kanban board

Issues

There are different issue-types in Jira. Let's have a look how to recognise these, and what to use each for.

The easiest way to look at issues is on a team board, but it's also possible to Search or use Dashboards. These will be explained in the more advanced topics below.

Fix/version

When closing an item, you are often prompted to fill in the mandatory field for Fix/Version.

Recommended learning

Jira fundamentals (free, self-paced, 90 minutes, certification option)

Jira beginner's guide to Agile (free, self-paced, 90 minutes, certification option)

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