Streamline workflows and automate tasks with ease
Jira workflows are crucial for defining how organizations handle tasks. Customized workflows help teams optimize their processes, making Jira an essential tool in your day-to-day. However, to reduce repetitive work and save time, automation is necessary. Implementing new procedures can be intimidating, but with the right tools, automating your workflows is straightforward and pays off in the long run.
Below, we will explore why automating workflows benefits you and your organization and how to set up automations with ease. We will explore what you can do with native automation in Jira, and how low-code apps can help you getting started without coding expertise required.
Why would my organization want to automate?
Automating Jira workflows can help organizations reduce repetitive work, improve process efficiency, ensure greater consistency, and gain better visibility into the progress of tasks and projects. Curious to learn more? Let’s hear what the experts are saying!
According to Sergejs Cuhrajs, product marketing manager for Appfire’s Workflow and Automation apps JSU and JMWE, “The most obvious benefit is to reduce the amount of duplicate, redundant work. Nobody likes repetition. It’s a great way to free your team’s time in Jira to focus on something that really matters to drive the business forward. With workflow automation, you streamline your processes in Jira.”
Time is a precious resource, so freeing up some for your teams from busy work is a game changer. But that’s not all. Automation also helps to simplify, as Sergejs explains further:
“Another important reason is that workflow apps help admins automate the more complex scenarios where native automation doesn’t quite cut it. Workflow automation apps like JSU come with a unique set of workflow automation building blocks – workflow extensions. These include post-functions, conditions and validators that go well beyond Jira’s native functionality, and allow Jira admins to create highly nuanced and flexible workflow processes that adapt to their team’s needs.”
Are there risks to automating Jira workflows?
Automating workflows can bring many benefits such as helping teams be more productive, and freeing their time to focus on more meaningful tasks. However, there are also potential risks and challenges to consider.
Some of the challenges that organizations face when deciding whether or not to automate include:
- Lack of expertise. Some organizations may lack the expertise needed to automate Jira workflows, which can be a barrier to adoption.
- Fear of disruption. Automating workflows can be disruptive to existing processes and require significant changes to how teams work.
- Upfront investment: Automation tools can require an initial investment of time and resources to set up and implement. Some organizations may be hesitant to invest, particularly without understanding the available tools in the current marketplace.
Fortunately, some of the tools in the Atlassian Marketplace can help you decrease the impact of these challenges while simplifying the automation process altogether.
JSU, for example, is an app that greatly expands admin capabilities in tweaking and automating workflows—and helping to fine-tune more complex business processes where native Jira automation doesn’t cut it.
But the main question still remains.
Do I have to be a coding expert to automate Jira workflows?
Sergejs provides a firm answer, “The resounding answer is, no, you don’t need to be very technical or know how to code. Of course, there are a lot of different workflow automation apps on the marketplace, and these solutions offer point-and-click, no-code configurations, so it’s easy to get started. There are limits to functionality, and then there are more complex solutions offering excellent extendability. Still, they’re also very technical and require scripting and coding for those admins who require that complexity.”
The good news is that workflow automation does not require coding expertise!
In addition, Sergejs is excited about “a really cool new feature in JSU. he says, “but it’s basically a new workflow rule builder. It’s kind of an easier more visual way to build your workflow automations.”
What is this new and game-changing rule builder? And how is it going to make automating workflows even that much easier?
Say hello to “The Universal Rule Builder”
The Universal Rule Builder is a user-friendly tool in JSU that helps non-technical users automate their Jira workflows. It lets you configure rules without needing to know how to code in an easily comprehensible “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” format
With this tool, you can automate repetitive tasks while saving time. It has many actions available, including custom fields and user-defined parameters, making it an excellent solution for organizations of all sizes. The Universal Rule Builder lets you create and implement custom workflows that integrate smoothly with your Jira setup, simplifying your workflows and enhancing your automation capabilities
Sounds great? Read on to see how to get started with JSU.
Getting started with automation in JSU
We’ve covered that JSU is a great solution for all levels of expertise. As a quick-to-get-started workflow automation solution that is entirely no-code, it’s perfect for beginners. Ready to begin with JSU but not sure where to start? Let’s take a closer look at how a common task can be automated with JSU’s Universal Rule Builder.
In this scenario, we want to eliminate repetition and save time by automatically closing parent tasks when the team has closed all of the issue’s subtasks. Once you have installed JSU from the Marketplace, simply follow these steps to get started:
- Create a draft of your project workflow
- Select ‘Access the Universal Rule Builder from JSU’ in the post function tab
- Configure components under ‘When’, ‘IF’ and ’Then’ logic flow
- Once done, Select ‘Add’ at the bottom of the page
- Publish the Draft workflow
- Test the post function in your workflow
For more detailed instructions, visit this use case on How to close parent issues when all subtasks are done.
There are many more use cases that JSU supports, from automatically creating subtasks to onboard new members, calculating field values to estimate work effort, to even setting up conditional approvals to streamline budget requests.
Overall, automating workflows is key to streamline and accelerate processes inside Jira, and reducing the busywork for team members and Jira admin alike. JSU is a great place to start for less experienced Jira admins in the team, or admins who simply don’t want to deal with coding and complexity, allowing them to build powerful automations with confidence and ease.
Take your automation in Jira to the next level
While coding expertise isn’t necessary to automate your most straightforward processes, more complex use cases could require a more flexible solution. That’s why it’s important to find the right automation tool for your team’s needs.
Now that you’re familiar with no-code automation and ready to take your automation to the next level – try out JMWE, a more advanced automation app with a growing library of 40+ built-in post functions, conditions, and validators via no-code, “point and click” tools and simplified scripting. And for total flexibility, explore Power Scripts to automate any tasks within and outside of workflows, perform custom field calculations and UI manipulation, and build various integrations via simple scripting.
Last updated: 2023-07-31
Appfire
Appfire is an enterprise collaboration software company that enables teams to plan and deliver their best work. Since launching in 2005 as one of the original Atlassian ecosystem partners, Appfire has built a portfolio of top-selling apps for more than 30,000 customers — including 55% of Fortune 500 companies. As a product-led company, Appfire identifies gaps in industries serving developers and client support teams and then builds solutions that drive productivity and efficiency.
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