Tired of MacGyvering Jira Software? It Might Be Time for a Long-Term Solution

Have you ever been in that situation where you didn’t have the right tool for the job, but you still found a way to get things done? Maybe you pounded a nail into the wall using something weird, like the handle of a screwdriver? I’ve been there a few times, and let me tell you, I felt pretty freaking smart for MacGyvering my way to success without the right tools.

Using the wrong tools, or even the right tools in the wrong way, can work out pretty well for a short period of time. As a teenager, I would hold my hammer by the head and pound with the handle sometimes, just for laughs. It kind of worked, and it was pretty fun… for the first nail or two. But if I had to deal with a lot of nails, using the hammer wrong became an utter chore and I quickly reverted to a proper grip.

Jira Software–It’s A Powerful Tool, If You’re Using It Right 

Jira Software is a hammer without a clear head or handle. It is an amazingly powerful tool, but it is so flexible that it can be very hard to know if you’re using it right. Many businesses get really frustrated with how difficult it is to coordinate cross-team work in Jira, for example, because they don’t realize that their setup isn’t right. They’re trying to pound a thousand nails with the handle of a hammer, because no one has shown them a better way to use it.

What’s worse is that when these businesses realize that their setup isn’t giving them what they want, they fall into the trap of thinking that they need another tool on top of Jira. After all, how else are they going to create that crucial cross-team visibility? Instead of improving their Jira setup, they start looking into adopting even more tools and spending even more money.

This is equivalent to me getting tired of pounding nails with the handle of a hammer, and then buying an expensive robotic exoskeleton to improve my effectiveness. It’s absolute overkill, amd all I really need to do is just hold the hammer a little differently.

The Solution: Optimizing Jira Software

So if McGyvering your Jira instance and buying a new solution isn’t the answer, then what is? Even if you have a skilled Jira admin team, it might be time to bring in someone from the outside who can help you optimize your Jira instance. But to do that, you might actually first need to optimize the way your teams are working, like your practices and processes, especially if what you’re looking for is better visibility across teams. 

There are a few things to think about here. You’ll want to make sure:

• All teams involved are in agreement about your goals and objectives
• Your practices and processes are designed to help you meet those goals
• Your Jira instance is set up to support your practices and processes
• You have the right dashboards and reports in place to measure progress toward your goals

If all this sounds like a lot, keep in mind that you don’t have to do everything all at once. You can make a series of smaller, incremental, and iterative changes that will move you closer to the outcomes you want. 

That’s what happens when you hold the hammer correctly and hit one nail at a time.

Hold Off on Buying that Robotic Exoskeleton

So if you’re feeling frustrated with how hard it is to use your Jira instance, and if it is a chore to coordinate work across teams, maybe don’t pull the trigger on that expensive additional tool quite yet. Chances are, there are some small tweaks you can make that will create that additional visibility you need. 

At Isos Technology, our Jira Optimization Service is designed to help you make quick, meaningful improvements to your Jira instance that will have you coordinating work across teams in no time!