Jira Implementation - How to Get Started? Atlassian Expert Q&A

Jira is the kind of tool that's been gaining fans (and even some enemies!) since its release in 2002. Many companies wonder if it's the right choice for them. For us, there's no better way to find out than to talk to an expert.

Mariusz Mścichowski, our Jira consultant, answered some of the arising questions about Jira implementation. With eighteen years of IT experience and nine years specializing in Atlassian tools, Mariusz helps teams get the most out of this software. Let's hear his perspective on the topic!

Quick recap first - What is Jira? 

Simply put, Jira helps companies stay organized and efficient. Distributing tasks, monitoring progress, and tracking issues are all easier with an intuitive, reliable system. 

Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar named it after Gojira, the Japanese word for Godzilla. Jira started as an issue tracking and project management tool, especially for software development, but now it helps all teams manage their work. How? Let's take a look at some examples from different departments:

• Software Development - Plan, track, release and support software. Jira is a single source of truth for your entire development lifecycle.
• Design - Make creative requests easy to work on. See designs in real time with Jira’s Figma integration and get approvals faster.
• Operations - Manage procurement, office, and new vendor requests, craft new operational processes, monitor operational risks and more.
• IT support - Easily build custom forms, track requests, and fully automate your intake process.
• Marketing - Break down complex campaigns into actionable steps. Get visibility into work happening across all marketing initiatives.

Q: Mariusz, to get started, why do you even like Jira? 😀

Mariusz: Let’s turn the question around, who doesn't like Jira? I feel that Jira is criticized by people and teams who use other solutions and are afraid of change. People don't like changes - if a process works, why bother?

Unfortunately (or not), as companies grow, they strive to standardize processes, optimize them, make them transparent, and identify areas for improvement. With Jira, you can do all of this and even more.

The other fact is that in large, mature organizations, many different tools are used. The need to develop, maintain and integrate them, isn’t often a main goal of the organization. These are unnecessary costs that should be reduced. Therefore, there is always some risk in adding another tool to the stack - even if it can replace three others 😉

Also, Jira is great because it allows us to manage quality. With Kanban boards we can focus on customer needs. In today's world, it's the customers who set production in motion. It doesn't make sense to produce something the customer doesn't need.

Jira offering is well in line with the Toyota 6 rules for the application of Kanban:

1. Each process issues requests (kanban) to its suppliers when it consumes its supplies.
2. Each process produces according to the quantity and sequence of incoming requests.
3. No items are made or transported without a request.
4. The request associated with an item is always attached to it.
5. Processes must not send out defective items, to ensure that the finished products will be defect-free.
6. Limiting the number of pending requests makes the process more sensitive and reveals inefficiencies.

I can't imagine a better system than Jira for applying Toyota’s principles. Jira isn't just great; it's fantastic, top-notch, and incredibly powerful! 🙂

Q: Imagine that we are company X and have decided to start using Jira. What should we do first, before even thinking about implementation?

Jira is like a locomotive, followed by cars full of changes and improvements. 

For some, these changes may be perceived as an attack on their work style or even their full-time position. Clear communication is essential.

I want to emphasize that the reason for implementation is never to reduce full-time positions. If a full-time position disappears, a new one will be created in its place! There is a tremendous amount of work in any organization, and the ability to move good employees to more optimal positions is both a benefit to the organization and an opportunity for the employees. Implementing Jira can come with more time for growth and development, or sometimes converting a full-time position to a remote one. 

The train of change is coming, and those who don't get on will be left on the platform. In the beginning, it is necessary to ensure that no one is left behind with a lost ticket or a lack of positive attitude. 

Q: If there was a checklist to get started with Jira, what would be the #1 step?

First, I would review the points of the process at work that involve sending emails. Then I'd like to model that process in Jira, tweak it, and make it simple and fast. The goal is to be able to look at Jira and answer questions about what's happening, who's doing what, and when it's going to happen. Mail conversations are moved into a structured process, and there is an opportunity to comment on each task. Clear and effective, aligned with existing processes. 

This is a good place to start and the rest depends on the needs of the teams. Let them write down their pain points and we would love to talk about them during presale workshops 🙂

Q: What’s your Top 3 Jira implementation mistakes? 

1. Granting people admin privileges “because they need to do something”. If they are not experts, don’t do that. It will only cause a mess in the projects. 
2. Implementing a process only with the department manager (or other executive), without talking to the employees and without understanding what exactly their tasks are. The manager can only give an overview. If that happens, the team will come to him “with torches and pitchforks”, and the whole implementation will have to be done a second time.
3. Implementing the process recklessly. Sometimes individuals push for a particular solution based on their past experience. It may turn out later that such a solution is impossible/unprofitable to maintain. Let's make sure the process makes sense and that the Jira implementation doesn't make it worse. 

Q: Is the implementation process time consuming? How long does it take?

It takes as long as to document processes and transfer them to Jira.

For example, if we have a 50-person company that wants to use Jira Cloud, we can set the standard implementation cost at $13,000 plus licensing. Of course, we are talking about a completely standard option without complicated integrations, many add-ons, etc. 

In terms of time, we can clearly say that it will take more than a month. Therefore, it is crucial to purchase all necessary licenses in advance. This will avoid problems caused by lack of working environment during the implementation.

Such a simple implementation as I mentioned above, including workshops, configuration and training, rarely takes more than six months, and often achieves the goal in half that time.

Q: As we know Jira Cloud has predefined templates - when is it good to get started with that?

Definitely worth it when we have a start-up, launching a whole new project(s) and we are creating a brand new process. Basically starting from scratch. The template will do some work for us right from the start. On the other hand, the team can manage such a project by themselves and we don't have to give anyone admin rights in the system. 

Q: And the last question - why is it good to work with an Atlassian expert like you? 😀

I remember one team at a bank that was very reluctant to use Jira. 100% of the employees were energetic female specialists in research, information completion, etc. They didn't want to hear a word about this new Jira tool. 

So I asked specifically:

Mariusz: Okay team, what is your biggest challenge at work?

Team: Completing information!!! - they replied in unison, nodding earnestly.

M: Alright, I'll set up an ICK project for you.

T: ICK? What do you mean by ICK?

M: You know, ICK, Information Completion Kit.

T: And we'll be able to assign ourselves these “ICKs”?

M: Yes... absolutely! So, are you interested?

T: YES!!!

The work of an expert and consultant is not only the technical side of Jira, but understanding the difficulties and needs of users. It is for them that we create and optimize projects to make work go more smoothly. What is essential is invisible to the eye and a good consultant will help uncover the heart of the process. And make it more fun!

So if you are planning to start using Jira or want to optimize it, we can’t wait to help 🙂 Contact us and let's turn your challenges into success stories.