A series on successful project management with Jira - Part Three: Tools, Introducing BigPicture and what’s next?

We now know from part one why the development of a physical product is different to software. In part two we considered the three different time horizons. So now let’s discover which tools are required to support all this.

Does Jira do the trick?

Jira handles Scrum, and short-term execution and tracking very well.

However, for medium and long-term planning, Jira is limited.  Atlassian has recently introduced what they call Roadmaps:

• Basic Roadmaps: timeline view of Epics with basic dependencies and a single team.

• Advanced Roadmaps (was Portfolio for Jira): timeline view of a hierarchy (work breakdown structure) with more advanced dependencies and multiple teams.

While Advanced Roadmaps support Agile and Scrum projects, its support for Waterfall and the complexities of physical product development is limited and I have found it is insufficient to support these processes.

Atlassian also acquired Jira Align (was AgileCraft) in 2019. However, it is more suited to large enterprises with its complexity and cost, putting it out of reach for most medium and small-sized organisations.

What other options are there?

So, we’ve looked at Agile versus Waterfall. We’ve considered the important questions to ask in the different planning phases, and we’ve touched on the highlights and limitations of Jira.

But there’s still a missing link: the disconnect between the tools and data we use to plan the project (e.g., Microsoft Project), and the tools and data our teams use to action the work (e.g., Jira). 

The danger is, that as soon as the project begins and things inevitably change, the plan becomes out of date because it’s not being automatically updated. What’s more, the project manager doesn't have enough time to update it manually, so the plan quickly becomes irrelevant.

The answer? BigPicture

When I first discovered BigPicture, I loved that it sits on top of the data that’s already being used by the team to execute the work – say Jira.

It does this by taking Jira projects, Epics, Stories/tasks, and subtasks and allowing you to build a dynamic structure; adding start and end dates (duration), building on Jira links to model interdependencies, and generating a time-based view of the plan (Gantt chart). 

What’s more, BigPicture delivers sophisticated resource planning, managing resource capacity, availability, and allocation – both at a team level (great for roadmapping) and an individual level delivery planning) – to support resource balancing. 

I’ve been so impressed by BigPicture and have used it in several organisations.

Alongside my partnership with Atlassian, I have become a BigPicture Partner. This gives me direct access, support and input into the direction of their products.

What’s Next?

So, in this series we’ve outlined the process and the tools of project management.

But now comes the tricky part: how do we configure the tools to best support the processes? And how do you use the tools to their maximum advantage?

My superpower is in configuring tools and having the knowledge of how the tools are best used to support the process. And from doing this many, many times, I’ve been able to learn from my own mistakes and further refine it.

I am a vital person to have on your side. As a project manager, you know that you and your team are already under a lot of pressure to develop the product. The tools you need around you need to help, not hinder.

You only have limited opportunities to get this right before your team lose trust in the process, the tools, or worse still, you.

Lean on my past failures and successes and reach out for help, so that you can access my superpower and get it right the first time.