Why this matters
Your four-person support team handles about 50 requests a week from a shared inbox. Each person has eight or more requests open, and a request takes about a week to close. Your manager wants a board that shows where requests get stuck, and a rule that stops people starting new work before old work is finished.
In this module you build that board in Jira: a Kanban space whose columns match how the team really works, a work-in-progress (WIP) limit on In Progress, and the report that shows where work piles up.
What you’ll build
A team-managed Kanban space called "Support practice" with a Waiting on customer column before Done, six practice requests and a column limit of 4 on In Progress.
When a fifth card goes into In Progress, the limit icon on the column header turns red. The Reports tab, added to the space, opens the Cumulative flow diagram and the Cycle Time Report.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practiceThe practice is built from real Jira screens and does not touch any Jira site.
- A free Jira Cloud site, to do it for realUse practice requests, not real customer data.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Columns that match the real process
A Kanban board has no sprints: work flows through columns as it arrives. Add a column with + after the last one, give it a Status category, then use ••• › Move column left to put it in place.
A separate Waiting on customer column shows how much time is spent waiting on someone else, not on your team.
A WIP limit is a team agreement
In Progress › ••• › Set column limit has a Minimum and a Maximum. A Maximum of 4, one per person, means nobody starts a new request until one finishes.
Jira warns rather than blocks: over the limit, only the limit icon on the header turns red. Keeping to it is up to the team.
Cycle time shows if it works
Cycle time is the number of days a request spends between starting and Done. Six requests that took 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 and 7 days average 24 ÷ 6 = 4 days.
A new team-managed space has no Reports tab: add it with + › Reports › Add to navigation. Team-managed spaces have a Cycle Time Report, not a control chart. In the Cumulative flow diagram, a band that keeps getting wider is where work piles up.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. What does Jira do when a column goes over its limit?
- The limit icon on the column header turns red
- It deletes the newest card
- It locks the board
Show the answer
The limit icon on the column header turns red. Jira makes the breach visible; sticking to the limit is up to the team.
2. Why add a separate Waiting on customer column?
- To see how much time is spent waiting on others
- Jira requires it
- To make the board longer
Show the answer
To see how much time is spent waiting on others. Separating waiting time shows whether delays are inside the team or outside it.
3. Cycle times of 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 and 7 days. What is the average?
- 4 days
- 24 days
- 3 days
Show the answer
4 days. 2 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 7 = 24, and 24 ÷ 6 = 4.