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As a project management tool, Jira is known for its ability to help teams track and manage tasks, issues, and workflows. One of its most useful features is the Jira dashboard, which provides a snapshot of project progress and performance at a glance. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of using a Jira dashboard and how to set one up for your team. The Jira dashboard is a customizable workspace that displays key project metrics, charts, and reports. It serves as a central hub for team members to access important information, monitor progress, and stay on top of tasks. The dashboard can be configured to show different types of data, such as project status, burndown charts, issue statistics, and more.
Once a user logs into the Jira software, the dashboard is the first thing which can be seen. Jira admin can customize the view of the dashboard and also things that can be seen on the dashboard.
Top Features
1. Quick access to key information: With a Jira dashboard, team members can quickly access important project data without having to dig through multiple screens or reports. This saves time and improves efficiency.
2. Better tracking and monitoring: A dashboard provides a clear picture of project progress and performance, making it easier to identify bottlenecks, track issues, and monitor team performance.
3. Improved communication: By sharing a common dashboard, team members can stay informed about project status and collaborate more effectively.
4. Customizable: The Jira dashboard can be customized to show the data most relevant to your team’s goals and objectives. This allows you to create a personalized workspace that suits your team’s unique needs.
Setting up a Jira Dashboard
To set up a Jira dashboard, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to the dashboard page: Click on the “Dashboards” tab in the top navigation bar, then select “Create Dashboards.”
2. Create a new dashboard: Click on the “Create Dashboard” button and give your dashboard a name.
3. Add gadgets: Gadgets are the individual components that make up your dashboard, such as charts, graphs, and tables. Click on “Add Gadgets” to browse the available options and select the ones you want to include.
4. Configure gadgets: Once you’ve added gadgets to your dashboard, you can configure them to show the data you want. For example, you can set up a burndown chart to show progress against a specific sprint or configure an issue statistics gadget to show the number of open, closed, and unresolved issues & the Jira Sprint Health gadget summarizes the essential metrics for the sprint.
Burndown chart
The Sprint Burndown is a Jira Report that’s already available at the individual project level. However, adding it to a Jira Dashboard as a gadget allows you to view multiple sprints together. This can show which agile teams are on track and give an indication of the overall health of the projects.
Issue statistics gadget
You need to know which team members have a larger workload, so you can demonstrate who is critical to your project and maintain a backup plan. A visual indication of workload per person is critical to keeping a handle on team progress.
For the first Issue Statistics gadget, pick the same project as above (find project via Filter field), and select Assignee from Statistic Type to compare stats by assignee.
Set Show Resolved Issue Statistics to No, because resolved issues aren't going to affect future progress.
Click Save.
Jira Sprint Health gadget
What’s in your ‘to-do’ category, what’s in your ‘in-progress’ category, and what’s in your ‘done’ category. This gadget also tells you what percentage of time has elapsed and what percentage of work is complete. It makes for a great conversation starter; you can how see you’re doing, what the scope changes are, if any issues have been flagged, etc.
Created vs. Resolved gadget
The Created vs. Resolved gadget gives you a quick view of the number of issues assigned to your team as compared to the number of issues being completed.
To keep things simple, configure this gadget to show just one project (we'll stick with this same project for the entire dashboard), and leave the other fields with the default selections.
Click Save and you'll see an aggregated view of where your workload is trending.
Pie Chart
A pie chart is a common report type that everyone will already be familiar with, and that familiarity is a good thing. Getting people to understand your data in a few seconds is key to a valuable report and a sign of a useful dashboard. The built-in Pie Chart Gadget is simple and effective at showing your team’s issues as a percentage.
5. Save your dashboard: Once you’re happy with your dashboard, save it by clicking on “Save Dashboard
Ideally, the most important and heavily used gadgets should be visible as soon as the dashboard loads. Depending on the type of reports being displayed it can be helpful to experiment with different layout options to see which works best for each use case.
You can create a different dashboard for each project you’re working on, or even multiple dashboards for a single project. However, less is quite often more, and setting up more dashboards than you need can create clutter and confusion.
Top Tip
You can save time creating a dashboard from scratch by copying an existing dashboard and simply changing a few of the gadgets. Just click Copy dashboard from the More menu (…) on the top right of any dashboard.
Conclusion
The Jira dashboard is a powerful tool for project management that can help teams stay on top of tasks, monitor progress, and collaborate more effectively. With its customizable gadgets and intuitive interface, it’s easy to set up and use. Whether you’re a project manager or a team member, a Jira dashboard can help you stay informed and improve your productivity.
This tutorial was designed to give you an idea of what's possible. You'll naturally spot areas where you'll want to dive into a deeper subset of project work. A JIRA dashboard is a living page, and you should tweak and evolve things as necessary.