Hygiene: things that quietly rot

1. Stale in progress

project = PROJ AND status = "In Progress" AND updated <= -5d

Catches work that is open but not moving. The single highest-yield query in this list. Run as a watch, daily.

2. Stuck in review

project = PROJ AND status = "In Review" AND updated <= -2d

Review queues are where sprints go to die, and nobody owns the queue. Watch, daily.

3. Unassigned in the active sprint

project = PROJ AND sprint IN openSprints() AND assignee IS EMPTY

Work committed to but not owned. Watch, daily, most useful on day two of a sprint.

4. Missing estimates in the active sprint

project = PROJ AND sprint IN openSprints() AND "Story Points" IS EMPTY

Unestimated tickets are the main reason a burndown chart misleads. Watch, run before planning and again on day one.

5. Overdue

project = PROJ AND duedate < now() AND status != Done

Only useful if your team actually sets due dates. If nobody does, skip it rather than running a query that always returns nothing.

6. Reopened recently

project = PROJ AND status CHANGED FROM Done AFTER -7d

Work that was called done and was not. Weekly. A rising count here usually means the definition of done is not shared.

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Flow: where work is piling up

7. Ready to deploy

project = PROJ AND status = "Ready for Deploy"

Finished work not yet in front of users. Daily, as a list rather than a chart.

8. Work in progress by assignee

project = PROJ AND status = "In Progress" ORDER BY assignee

Chart this as a bar by assignee. If one person has five and the rest have one, you have found your bottleneck.

9. Shipped this week

project = PROJ AND status CHANGED TO Done AFTER -7d

Weekly, to a channel, as a list. The cheapest morale artifact available and it costs nothing to run.

10. Bug ratio

project = PROJ AND created >= -30d ORDER BY issuetype

Chart as a pie or bar by issue type. A rising bug share over months is a signal worth having before somebody asks for it.

Benefits of sharing Jira Reports in Slack

• Reports are easily accessible, people do not have to go to Jira and look for it
• Team can react/discuss the report right there in Slack
  

The only way to share Jira reports currently is by copying the relevant link to the report and sharing it manually in Slack channel. This is not ideal and has limited value as well.

This is where Troopr comes into the picture. Troopr Reports for Jira allows users to set up automated reporting from Jira projects into Slack channels. Troopr actually constructs the entire report based on the user’s needs and delivers them to Slack as beautiful charts and lists that are actionable with drill down capabilities.

Benefits of using Troopr  Reports

Troopr goes beyond link sharing to share the actual report to the Slack channels. Benefits of using Troopr Reports for Jira include

• Easy 3 step configuration for any Troopr report
• Reports are not links to Jira pages, but actual charts and lists in Slack
• Choose from 20+ report templates or setup a fully custom one
• Everyone including people who don’t access Jira can see the reports in Slack
• Drill through the report for more insights directly in Slack
• Take action on the report issues directly in Slack (when you have relevant permissions)

For example,

Let me share a Issue breakdown status report and its opportunities in Slack

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Making a custom Report

When the pre-built templates don't fit your team’s needs, build a completely custom one. Troopr allows you to configure a custom report by specifying any JQL in the report configuration.

Let's look at how we can go about building a custom JQL report using Troopr reports. The configuration involves 3 easy steps.

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Step 1: Configure the JQL

Choose Custom JQL template and enter JQL value

Step 2: Configure the schedule

Set up time schedule to receive report in Slack

Step 3: Configure the delivery options

Choose where you want to receive the report in Slack

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Post setup actions

Once the report is set up, the report can be tested to see if it is working as expected. To do this you can find your report in the list and choose the “Run Now” option. This will send the report to the configured channel (if there is any data to send).

Keep the team in the loop

The moment the report is setup, a notification is sent to the relevant channel that the report owner (person who set up the report) has setup the report to be delivered at set frequency in the channel. This keeps the team informed so they are not taken by surprise when it actually happens. Also every report has a footer at the bottom of the report with information about the report and the person who set it up. So if anyone has reservations about the reporting they know who to reach out to.

Keep your Jira admin in the loop

Technically Troopr has no limitation on the number of reports that you can set up. Troopr’s implementation of reporting is heavily optimized for performance and resource utilization, however you may do well to keep your Jira administrator in the loop about the reports you intend to set up. Also the Troopr subscription plans your organization uses may have some limitations on usage.

Access control privileges

Anyone in the team can see the reports setup by their team members. However only the report owner or workspace administrator can edit/delete the report. When the administrator finds a problem with a report setup by a member of the team, they can discuss it with them or when necessary immediately disable or delete the report.

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What are the other reports I can use?

Troopr’s Jira bot for Slack comes with 20+ report templates including

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Sprint burndown chart: Gives the team a visual representation of the amount of work that has been completed and work remaining in a Sprint.

Sprint velocity chart: Gives a visual representation of the amount of value delivered in each Sprint, enabling the team to predict the amount of work that can be done in the future Sprints.

Workload pie chart: Gives the team a visual representation of all the issues in a specific project board by user or other attributes.

Issues by type: Shows all issues in a specific project board by issue type.

Issues by Status: Shows all issues in a specific project board by issues status.

Issues by Assignee: Shows all issues in a specific project board by Assignee.

Issues by Priority: Shows all issues in a specific project board by issue priority.

Issues missing updates: Shows all issues in a specific project board that are missing updates for configured ‘x’ days.

Issues missing estimates: Shows all issues in a specific project board that are missing task estimates.

Estimates too high in Sprint: Shows all issues in a specific project board with estimates higher than the specified value in the active Sprint.

Smart automated team nudges

Troopr lets you quickly setup smart actionable reminders (Nudges) for your team workflow. Schedule smart reminders with custom criteria. Reminders about things that need your team’s attention like stale issues, overdue issues, potential blockers and more can be sent as a nudge to your team in Slack. Nudges are actionable and actions are fulfilled entirely without leaving Slack. This improves compliance while providing a superior experience for your team members. Troopr Nudges are fully customizable for any schedule, delivery message, channel and trigger criteria.

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Get Started

Troopr Slack integration for Jira is available for install from Atlassian Marketplace and Slack App Directory. You can pick from the already available report templates/build a unique one in a few clicks configured for team needs and workflow.

Common questions

Will these work on Jira Server or Data Center?

Yes. The JQL is standard. Custom field names may differ in your instance.

Why does my query return nothing?

Usually a status name. "In Review" and "In review" are different strings, and team-managed projects often use their own names. Check the actual status names on your board first.

Can I run one of these across several projects?

Yes. Replace project = PROJ with project IN (PROJ, OTHER) or drop the clause and scope another way.

How often should exception queries run?

Daily as a watch for hygiene queries, weekly for the flow and scope ones. More often than daily produces noise without producing action.