The Next Era of Jira: Unified Collaboration for Every Team

At the recent Team ’24 event in Las Vegas, Atlassian announced a significant transformation: combining Jira Software with Jira Work Management into a single, cohesive product under the “Jira” brand. This change is poised to enhance the Jira experience for all users, streamlining functionality and improving cross-team collaboration.

This integration provides a unified platform for every team to align on goals, coordinate work, and access the insights needed to achieve greatness. Let's take a look through some of the biggest changes as a result of this announcement 

Enhanced Features and Reduced Friction

Current users of both Jira Software and Jira Work Management will find that the new Jira reduces the friction between different types of work. By aligning engineering, marketing, design, and other teams on a common platform, Jira facilitates better goal setting, priority tracking, and collaborative work. The integration is designed to eliminate the need for multiple tools, offering a cohesive ecosystem that enhances productivity and teamwork. Often there was confusion about which of the tools to go with, this will make it much easier for teams to get started with Jira!

Streamlined Collaboration Across Teams

For existing Jira users, this merger means a more integrated and powerful tool that caters to diverse team needs. Historically, Jira Software has been the go-to for software development and issue tracking, while Jira Work Management served business teams like marketing, sales, and human resources. Now, these functionalities come together, creating a unified platform that simplifies cross-functional work.

Jira users will benefit from several new tools designed to enhance project tracking and visualisation:

• Goals Feature: Helps teams align on overarching objectives by creating and tracking goals within Jira’s list and issue views. This feature includes a goals directory and progress charts, providing a clear view of how tasks contribute to higher-level objectives.
• Spreadsheet-Like List View: Offers an intuitive way to manage projects, complete with inline and bulk editing capabilities.
• Plans Feature: Available for Premium and Enterprise users, this allows for tracking issues from multiple boards and projects in a single, consolidated view, aiding in comprehensive project management.
  
  

Breaking Down Work with AI

The foundation of effective teamwork lies in empowering individual members. Atlassian Intelligence (AI) introduces innovative ways to streamline work processes. Soon, AI work breakdown will suggest how to split epics into issues or issues into sub-tasks, enabling teams to focus more on progress than on planning.

Four More AI-Powered Enhancements:

• AI Automation: Describe any requirement or action in plain language, and Atlassian Intelligence will generate the necessary automation rules.
• Natural Language to JQL: Transform everyday language queries into Jira Query Language (JQL) effortlessly.
• Generative AI in the Editor: Enhance content creation and summarisation directly within Jira’s descriptions or comments.
• AI Summaries: Quickly understand issue comments with concise summaries.

The combination of Jira Software and Jira Work Management into a single, unified Jira is a game-changer for existing users. It doesn't just make our job easier as an Atlassian Partner, but brings the best of both tools together for a more complete experience!

At Rapid, we are here to help you navigate this transition and maximise the benefits of the new 'Jira'. Contact us to learn more about how we can support your team.