Plans in Jira Software

1. Course Overview

• Purpose of the course
• Target audience and prerequisites
• Schedule and total duration

Lab 1 – Log in (5 min)

2. Introduction to Planning / Getting Started with Plans

• Purpose and benefits of using Plans
• Challenges of long-term planning
• Agile vs. Enterprise planning
• Big picture planning meetings (quarterly)
  • Define strategic themes
  • Review customer/internal feedback, market, and goals
• Roles and planning requirements
  • Managers/Planners
  • Executives/Stakeholders
  • Jira Admins
  • Scrum Masters/Dev Leads
• Key features of Plans (single source of truth, scenarios, forecasting, progress tracking, sharing)

Lab 2 – Getting Started with Plans (20–30 min)

3. Creating and Navigating Plans

• What is a Plan?
  • Visualization of work
  • Shared source of truth
• What goes into a Plan?
  • Scope (boards, projects, filters)
  • Releases (versions in Jira)
  • Teams (velocity, capacity, iteration length)
• Creating a new plan (empty or with sample data)
• Navigating the Plan interface
  • Main tabs: Timeline, Calendar, Program, Teams, Releases, Dependencies
  • Work item creation and ranking
  • Accepting and committing changes
  • Filters, saved views, sharing
  • Plan settings (estimation units, dates, permissions, scenarios)

Lab 3 – Creating and Touring a Plan (25–30 min)

4. Working with Teams

• Definition of a team in Plans
• Why plan at the team level?
• Configuring teams (Scrum or Kanban)
  • Velocity, capacity, iteration length
• Atlassian teams vs. Plan-only teams
• Managing global teams across Plans

Lab 4 – Working with Teams (15 min)

5. Using the Auto-Scheduler / Working with the Schedule

• How the Auto-scheduler works
• Executing and reviewing schedules
• Overwriting work item values
• Factors that affect scheduling
  • Dependencies, estimation methods, sprint assignments, ranking, team capacity
• Adjusting plans manually after scheduling
• Saving or discarding changes

Lab 5 – Working with the Schedule (25–30 min)

6. Working with Dependencies

• Defining dependencies
• Blocks vs. is blocked by
• Required vs. dependent issues
• Multi-issue dependencies
• Creating dependencies in Jira vs. directly in Plans
• Visualizing dependencies (badges, lines, indicators)

Lab 6 – Managing Dependencies (30–45 min)

7. Releases and Scenarios

• Understanding Releases in Plans
• Planning with fixed vs. flexible dates
• Creating multiple scenarios (what-if analysis)
• Comparing and sharing scenarios

Lab 7 – Releases and Scenarios (45–60 min)

8. Sharing and Exporting Plans / Customizing Views

• Sharing Plans with stakeholders (read-only mode)
• Export options (reports, presentations)
• Customizing views
  • Colors, filters, fields, saved views
  • Tailoring views for specific audiences

Lab 8 – Using Views and Sharing Plans (40–45 min)

This course is designed for anyone responsible for managing Jira Software projects. That includes

• Program managers
• Project managers
• Product owners
• Product managers
• Development team managers
• Scrum masters.

The course “Plans in Jira Software” from Atlassian University teaches you how to build, manage, and visualize long-term plans across multiple teams and projects. You'll learn how to use key features like the auto-scheduler, dependency management, and what-if scenario planning to improve forecasting and coordination. It’s ideal for project managers, team leads, and others needing visibility across workstreams.