With over 600 companies (and even more teams) using Swanly to manage their daily work in Jira software, it’s quite alright to say that our Jira roadmap timeline tool is the bomb.
Yes, every Marketplace vendor wants you to think their project or product roadmaps are IT (we call this marketing :P) - and we do too - but we’re more than ready to prove it, so let’s jump right into it!
Here are the 10 reasons teams use Swanly roadmap Jira to plan and track daily work:
1. Save time with multi project access
It’s quite rare to come across companies that work with a single Jira project, and if it is so at all, it’s usually set as a workaround for cross-project activities. Now, Swanly is a Jira project planning hub that offers access to work from across all Jira projects, so there’s no need to waste time navigating multiple sources or running after people for updates.
And though you could use Advanced Roadmaps for Jira to plan, track and manage tasks across projects, the app still requires you to upgrade to Premium which would end up costing you an extra $7 per user!
Swanly is a more elegant Jira roadmap solution at a fraction of the cost; and for more on why you should opt for Swanly instead of Advanced Roadmaps, here’s an article for you!
2. Plan Jira work your way with ease and flexibility
Each team has its own approach to planning, which is why you’ll need a versatile and flexible tool like Swanly to plan projects. Yes, Swanly is as good for planning as it is for tracking Jira issues and releases!
The Swanly roadmap provides a variety of swimlane options, alongside a certain ease of navigation that doesn’t go unnoticed. Our app allows you to group your project by assignee, status or even template, and plan tasks accordingly. Moreover, you can drag and drop your Jira task into any row to schedule it (for example, by assigning it to a specific person on the team).
Also, you can zoom in and out on the timeline (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and bi-yearly) then schedule tasks by dragging and dropping them into the timeframe you choose.
3. Track work beyond epics in your Jira roadmap
Roadmap planning and issue planning are similar in function but they handle different Jira objects, and so teams use them for different purposes. A release will deliver software versions, while planning using issues will allow you to track progress for anything - from product features to marketing campaigns.
And so with Swanly, you’re not restricted to planning Jira epics only; you can work with any Jira issue type you want - be it story, task, subtask, custom issue type and so on. Basically, you can plan anything and everything in Swanly’s roadmap view.
4. Save time by standardizing your repeatable Jira processes
The flow of work activities changes from team to team, yet every type of deliverable follows a certain process so why not create repeatable delivery templates to save you time?
Whether you’re handling a feature launch, a marketing campaign or any change management, using Swanly not only allows you to create different Jira workflows or phases based on your type of deliverable, but you can also register a standard duration for each of your stages!
Activity planning is then a breeze, as Swanly auto-schedules all of your stages.
5. Understand Jira work progress with multi-project reporting
Every Jira deliverable that needs breaking down into smaller tasks should have aggregated reporting available; whether it’s a Jira release, epic or task! Swanly gives you full visibility over how the work scope is advancing, while allowing you to access time spent, story points achieved, and visual progress thanks to the burndown chart.
Given there's usually more than one team working on delivering a release (also why you need to include tasks from multiple projects), we added the ability to create cross-project releases and share reports.
6. Share progress reports with multiple teams
Suppose you want your colleague to update a report; you could help them navigate the app until they reach a specific activity or simply use the share button in your Swanly report instead. Once your teammate clicks on the link, they get access to the report; no need to navigate, filter or search anything!
Also, if you need to report on progress while your stakeholders lack access to Jira, you can easily download the spreadsheet version of your plan and share it.
7. Make your team members happy
Swanly’s roadmap timeline view is structured to welcome everyone, i.e. all stakeholders in your organization! Progress information is available and ready to be viewed by anyone, at any level.
Swanly accommodates any type of deliverable, meaning you can see large initiatives and campaigns unfold, just as you can track shorter term activities.
You can assess the health of your Jira deliverable by drilling down into the progressing stages, then dive deep into details to understand your low level tasks and aggregated reports. This segregated approach to tracking means that Swanly helps keep everyone in the loop, from programme managers or campaign heads, to project managers, leads and executors.
8. Get info at a glance with Jira multi-project list view
If you’re looking for a macro view of your work across all Jira projects, without having to navigate the timeline, you’re going to love the list view in Swanly. Data in this list is more compact, with more information being offered at a glance.
The filters available are helpful when creating the progress insight reports you need, but if you’d rather have access to a more complex, deep dive report, you can get it through your Swanly roadmap.
9. Navigate your Jira roadmap timeline with ease
Unlike traditional Jira Gantt chart roadmaps where every task occupies an entire row, Swanly stacks tasks horizontally for a more efficient use of space. It also makes it easier for you to understand scheduled work, simply by enabling you to navigate horizontally and vertically with ease.
Also, the fact that you can seamlessly drag and drop elements into the timeline makes Swanly a fluid, easy Jira roadmap timeline to navigate.
10. Manage all your Jira work in one place
Swanly isn’t just good for reporting; one of its key strengths is centralization. The app is tightly integrated with Jira to help you save time and skip on having to keep a dozen pages open! Swanly allows you to:
- Create Jira issues and releases while planning
- Edit issue data without leaving the page
- Quickly create or add scope to deliverables
Basically the only place you need to be is Swanly.
And that’s our drum roll ladies and gentlemen. If you wish to know first hand how Swanly can help you plan, track and manage your work better in Jira software, get Swanly for free here; yes, it's totally free for 10 users or less!
You can also book a demo with Jexo, for a more customized approach. ☺️
Here’s the video version of this article:
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