Jira is a project management tool that helps teams manage their work. With it, you can plan, organize, track, and manage all your agile software development projects within a single place.
Jira is particularly useful as it offers better visibility, better prioritization, and increased productivity for teams and project managers. Its usefulness explains why Jira is used by more than 36,000 websites worldwide.
The software, unlike most other dashboarding tools, allows users to combine multiple features, change features, and customize their dashboards on the go. Due to its high personalization capabilities, a Jira dashboard is made of components called gadgets.
We will explore 15 dashboard gadgets broken into three broad categories of Jira dashboards. We’ll look at agile teams, profields, and a cluster of other Jira dashboards based on the gadgets you can use on them.
What’s a Jira Dashboard?
Your Jira dashboard is the first thing you’ll see when you log in to Jira. You can create multiple dashboards for one massive overview of your entire workload or different dashboards for various projects.
You can also create personal dashboards and add gadgets to track issues and assignments on your table. These dashboards show devices that keep your tasks, projects, and achievements in different charts organized.
The system dashboard also provides a default dashboard for everyone in your organization. Thus, there’s value in ensuring that it gets correctly set up for you and your daily operations. This guide will offer some examples of Jira dashboards.
If you pay attention, you’ll understand the function of each dashboard example. You’ll also know what’s happening at a glance, without clicking on a single project or opening any email.
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You can’t make sense of the dashboards in Jira without Jira gadgets. They display summaries of team progress, reports, and other data from Jira projects to produce a dashboard. It’s a small object that contains the information you need to stay updated about accomplishing your team goals.
You can customize these gadgets to show projects and provide details relevant to specific users. Below are some of the gadgets available for you to embed in your Jira dashboards.
They’ll help you gain better control over your projects in Jira.
Jira Dashboard Example for Agile Teams
Agile is a project management and software development approach. It helps teams deliver value to their customers faster.
Agile teams can use Jira dashboards to collaborate and see which project areas require more work. Below are some examples of dashboards they can use.
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1. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Sprint Health
The Jira Sprint Health gadget summarizes the essential metrics in a sprint. It’s best to place the Sprint Health in the upper-left so everybody can see who’s working on the sprint. It’ll also give people an immediate sense of any trouble or challenge.
To create a Jira gadget for Sprint Health:
Add the Agile Sprint Health gadget to your dashboard
Choose the agile board you want to pull data from for the Broadfield
Enable all three options underneath so that sprint name, board name, and assignees are always visible
Use the Next Sprint Due (auto) option for Sprint to avoid updating the settings every sprint
Then hit the Save button.
To get the most reliable results, you should check the Estimation tab’s configuration in the Agile Board. If you want to use time, set it to the Original time estimate.
2. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Sprint Burndown
The Sprint Burndown displays the amount of work remaining to achieve the goal of a sprint. Aside from using it to track the total work remaining in the sprint, you can use it to project the likelihood of achieving the set sprint goal.
By doing this, a team can monitor its progress and respond to trends accordingly. For instance, if the burndown chart shows that the team may not reach the sprint goal, they can take action to remain on track.
On the dashboard, the sprint’s start is on the left, and the sprint’s end is on the right.
To create a Jira gadget for Sprint Burndown, here’s a step by step process to fit your dashboard with the Agile Sprint Burndown gadget:
Select an agile board of your choice for the Broadfield
Select Next Sprint Due from the options.
Keep in mind that estimation at the beginning of the sprint is critical for this gadget to be accurate.
To view the sprint burndown chart, you can:
- Navigate to your project
- Select the Backlog or Active sprint option
- Click Reports
- Select the Burndown Chart
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3. Jira Dashboard Gadget for High-Priority Issues
You should place a list of your team’s high-priority issues in the upper right-hand corner for best results. You can use a JQL statement to find any problem with the Flagged field selected or if it is considered a blocker.
Flagging an issue means there’s an obstacle for you to overcome before moving forward. For example, if an issue is marked priority = blocker, it means that it’s globally crucial to the project’s health.
Although it’s for different reasons, both issues are of concern to the team. So, your JQL statement should look like this:
sprint in (openSprints(), futureSprints()) AND project in (TIS) AND (Flagged is not EMPTY OR priority = Blocker)
To create a Jira gadget for high-priority issues:
- Fit your dashboard with the Filter Results gadget
- Save the JQL above as a filter and enter its name in the Saved Filter field
- Adjust Number of Results
- Add Status under Columns to Display for easy reference
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4. Jira Dashboard for Two-Dimensional Filter Statistics
You can use the Two-Dimensional Filter Statistics to break down a set of data. This move makes it easier to find critical areas of concern.
With this gadget example, you know two things: how much each team member has on their plate and the relative priorities of work distributed throughout the team.
You can consider all of the current work in setting up your base filter. Then, use the following JQL statement to show the work in the current sprint as well as future scheduled work:
sprint in (openSprints(), futureSprints()) AND project in (TIS)
To create a Jira gadget for two-dimensional filter statistics:
The first step is to add the Two-Dimensional Filter Statistics gadget to your dashboard twice. Then configure the first one to show how much work each team member has left by:
- Saving the JQL above as a filter and enter its name in the Saved Filter field
- Selecting Status for the X-axis field and Assignee for the Y-axis field
- Setting Number of Results to equal the number of your team members
- Leaving the rest of the fields set to their default values or adjusting as you see fit
- Clicking the Save button
For the second gadget, follow the same steps as above, but select Priority for the X-axis field instead.
5. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Continuous Integration
The most successful agile teams pay attention to their continuous integration. Your team’s consistent investment in automated testing strategies effortlessly enables agility.
If you use Atlassian Bamboo, your team can stay ahead of build breakages and ensure that automated tests are continuously running.
To create a Jira gadget for Continuous Integration, ask your Jira admin to configure the Bamboo plugin for Jira. This will make the Bamboo Plans gadget available.
6. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Assigned to Me
Some teams assign tasks at the sprint planning meeting. Often, someone creating an issue will give it to a specific team member immediately.
You can use Assigned to Me to provide each team member with a list of their work.
To create a Jira Dashboard for Assigned to Me:
- Add it to your dashboard
- Leave the default settings as it is
- Save it
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7. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Level Up
You can extend your dashboard to include data from multiple teams. To track numerous scrum teams together, use examples of the Sprint Health gadget and the Agile Sprint Burndown gadget to get an overview of your teams’ progression towards a common goal.
You can track the progress of a sprint and display resolution statistics through gadgets. Try these in your dashboard:
- Use the Sprint Health gadget to track the progress of issues designated to each team member.
- Select the Filter Results gadget, and choose the custom JQL filter sprint in (openSprints()) AND project in (PRAC) AND (Flagged is not EMPTY OR priority = Medium) – set this to cover the range of sprints and issue priorities you want.
- The Sprint Burndown gadget portrays team performance through the sprint. Set your estimation at the beginning of the sprint — this is tracked by the grayline. The red Remaining Values line tracks added and closed issues – these should ideally fall below the Guideline.
Jira Dashboard Examples for Profields
Profields targets helping people track projects with Jira. The information offered by Profields provides a different solution that stands out over other options available in the Atlassian Marketplace.
8. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Project Fields Summary
The Project Fields Summary provides you with a shortcut to the projects you want to visualize in your Jira dashboard. It shows only the necessary attributes; for example, a gadget can contain only the projects with the Project Lead role.
To create a Jira Dashboard for Project Fields Summary:
- Add this gadget searching by Profields: Project Fields Summary (New).
- Replace the default title of the gadget with what you want to show.
- Choose between directly writing the Profields Query Language (PQL) or selecting a previously saved filter in the Project Navigator.
- Customize the columns showing in the result — if you choose to Write PQL, this option checks automatically and you can’t change it. If you opted for the From filter and this option is checked, you can choose the fields you want to show in the Fields to display column. If you uncheck the box, it’ll indicate areas that were stored in the filter during creation.
- Select the columns you’d like to display and their order — to add a column, select a field in the dropdown and click the Add button. You can remove a field by clicking the trash icon.
- Reorder the columns by dragging them.
- Sort them by clicking in the column header
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9. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Two-Dimensional Project Statistics Report
The Profields Two-Dimensional allows you to observe the statistical data for your projects. It also filters by the specific tasks you want to track closely, in table format.
To create a Jira dashboard gadget for Two-Dimensional Project Statistics Report:
- Add this gadget searching by Profields: Two-Dimensional Project Statistics Report
- Replace the gadget’s default title to indicate what you intend to show
- Filter the project list showing in the grid
- Choose between Write PQL or From Filter
- Select a field to display in the columns
- Select a field to display in the rows
10. Jira Dashboard Gadget for One Field Statistic Chart
Jira Dashboard for Profields is a One Field Statistic chart that shows a total number or percentage of projects according to a specific field. It represents this information by using either of these visualization options – pie chart and bar chart.
To create a Jira gadget for One Field Statistic Chart:
- Add this Gadget by searching on Profields: One Field Statistics Chart (New)
- Replace the default title to indicate what you want to show
- Filter the project list showing in the grid
- Choose between Write PQL or From Filter
- Select a field to display the statistics
- Select the type of chart you want to display — bar or pie
11. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Project Timesheet Report
The Project Timesheet Report comes in handy when you’re using Jira’s Time Tracking option. Its objective is to show in your Jira dashboard:
- An in-depth analysis of the Original Estimate time
- The incurred time, that is, Σ Time Spent
- The project’s Remaining Estimate time that needs tracking
When determining the Original Estimate for your project, it uses the following criteria:
- Provide a field in the project of type duration
- Where the Original Estimate must be provided
- Determine the sum of Original Estimate — Σ Original Estimate
To determine the Remaining Estimate, follow these requirements:
- Allow the system to calculate your value of choice as Original Estimate — Σ Time Spent
- Determine the sum of the Remaining Estimate, that is, Σ Remaining Estimate
Other Jira Dashboard Examples
Since your Jira dashboards are flexible tools that you can share with others in specific roles or projects, it’s possible to have these examples.
12. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Tracking Different Teams
Using several examples of the same gadget, you can track progress for different teams and projects, as seen above with the Sprint Health gadget.
13. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Tracking Progress
A team dashboard must serve your team’s interests and pique their drive. It includes gadgets that help measure progress for projects.
- The Jira Road Map gadget simplifies progress toward milestones. It displays which versions are due and the progress on issue resolution for each one.
- The Activity Stream gadget allows you to keep track of what’s happening in your project.
- The Created versus Resolved gadget displays the frequency of issues logged and fixed. The fewer the problems logged, and the higher the resolution count, the more stable the sprint and the project.
- The Resolution Time gadget displays the average time between an issue’s creation and resolution over a selected period.
- With the Two Dimensional Filter Statistics gadget, you can track different metrics, like bugs resolved by team members.
14. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Understanding Workload
When finalizing a sprint, you may face challenges like not knowing how much work each team member has or how quickly each can finish their tasks.
- The Pie Chart and Average Age Chart gadgets can detect this type of detail.
- A Heat Map provides the frequency of a specific field, like assignees, issue labels, or types.
- The “Average Number of Times in Status” gadget discloses the average number of days that issues spend on each level.
15. Jira Dashboard Gadget for Status and Watched Items
Jira focuses on tracking work schedules and items.
- Jira has a calendar gadget that shows you the context of due dates and when items are logged and fixed.
- The Issue Statistics gadget helps surface bottlenecks, mostly when Show Resolved Issue Statistics is set to No so that only unresolved items appear.
- With the Watched Items gadget, you can observe the issues you want to track, including items assigned to others.
How to Create Jira Dashboards
When you first log onto Jira, it displays a default system dashboard, which usually includes the Assigned to Me gadget. As a controller, you can set up this default dashboard.
All the gadgets contained in it are visible to people who have permission to see them. Users can then create their dashboards.
For this tutorial, we’ll focus on Jira Cloud.
- Click on View All Dashboards or View System Dashboards on the Dashboards menu
- Click the Create dashboard button or the ellipses on the upper-right corner of the screen
- On the Create dashboard page, input a name for your dashboard — use a descriptive title that allows users to identify its purpose
- Add a description of the dashboard (this is optional)
- In the Start from box, choose whether to start with default gadgets or a blank dashboard that you can customize
- Choose whether this dashboard is a favorite — a favorite shows up at the top of your dashboards list
- Click Add — the new dashboard appears under Favorite Dashboard
You can add a dashboard to one or more projects and share or hide it from different users or projects.
Click the ellipses, and select Share dashboard.
For adding:
To add the dashboard to a project, click Project in the Share box. Choose who can see it, then click Add.
Keep in mind that if you’d add the dashboard to multiple projects, you’ll repeat this process for each project. Your shares should look like this:
Click Update.
For sharing:
- To share with a group, click Group in the Share box. Select a group then click Add.
- To share with any user or team member, click Any logged-in user in the Share box. Click Add.
- To share with anybody (whether they’re logged into their Jira accounts or not), click Public in the Share box. Then click Add.
People’s Response to Jira Dashboards
Based on user feedback, here are some reasons users enjoy using Jira for their project management and work:
- Fantastic for customizing or configuring projects
- Useful for adding various gadgets while tracking the progress of the project instantly
- Ease of sharing dashboards with people where they can check the status and save time
- Ease of assigning tasks and sub-tasks to team members
A Summary of Jira Dashboard Uses
Jira dashboards help you to understand your project status and activity by allowing you to:
- Manage agile and scrum teams
- Capture and report bugs
- Get detailed project reports
- Get an idea about team workloads
- Organize projects
- Find recently created issues
- Get a clear vision of the product that you’re developing
With Jira, you can work on large scale projects which involve multiple complex tasks that several people work on from inception to execution. The biggest plus that Jira offers is that it allows you to customize everything.
Wrap Up
Jira dashboards are intuitive, so you can visualize your data and keep track of multiple tasks.
Project managers benefit from using it to plan, monitor, and develop their projects easily and quickly.
Developers can benefit from using it to report progress and track software feature improvement requests.
Information credit: Jira Software
Nicholas Godwin helps businesses tell profitable brand stories that their audiences love. He’s worked on projects for Fortune 500 companies, global tech corporations and top consulting firms, from Bloomberg Beta, Accenture, PwC, and Deloitte to HP, Shell, and AT&T. Works with Mofluid these days.