Jira: the ultimate project management tool - 11 reasons why it stands out

Jira is known for its flexibility, customization options, and ease of use, making it a popular choice for teams of all sizes and industries.

So what makes it special and why more and more organizations choose Jira over other project management tools?

Jira's versatility is one of the reasons why it stands out from other project management tools. With its highly customizable features, users can start with pre-set templates or develop their own unique workflows, issue types, fields, and more. This allows teams to tailor Jira to their specific needs and make it work for them, rather than conforming to a rigid framework. In addition, Jira allows users to integrate third-party tools and apps, creating an ecosystem that makes work even more efficient and streamlined.

Another reason why Jira is special is that it caters to the needs of both Scrum and Kanban teams. Scrum teams can use Jira to manage their backlog, plan sprints, and review automatic burndown charts. They can also set sprint goals and track their progress. Kanban teams, on the other hand, can use Jira to visualize their workflow, set work in progress limits, and manage their backlog effectively. Both types of teams can switch between backlog view and work in progress view, allowing for effective backlog management. With Jira, teams can easily adopt and follow their preferred Agile framework.

Another special feature of Jira is that it provides tools for classical, waterfall project management, in addition to its popular Agile functionality. With Jira, users can build roadmaps that resemble Gantt charts, estimate the time required to complete tasks, and track progress. This makes it a versatile tool for all types of project management approaches. That said, the Agile approach provides a lot of benefits, and it's becoming more and more popular in various industries. If you're interested in learning more about Agile, check out our online course "Agile Basics."

Jira allows users to create unlimited boards and dashboards, which is another reason why it's a popular choice for project management. Issues in Jira are grouped into boards, whether they are Scrum or Kanban. Anyone can create new boards and group issues together based on their preferences. This makes it easy to manage multiple projects or teams in one place. On top of that, users can create dashboards with widgets displaying certain statistics about the issues. This allows for easy tracking of progress and helps keep everyone on the same page.

Issue ranking is a special feature of Jira that sets it apart from other project management tools. With Jira, all issues are ranked against each other, so changing the priority of one issue on a board will automatically change it everywhere else. This makes it easy to manage and prioritize issues across different boards or projects. It's a simple process, just drag and drop the issue to the appropriate place on the board. With this feature, teams can quickly adjust their priorities and stay on top of their work.

Progress is visible on boards and on automatically generated charts and graphs, which can be customized to fit the needs of the team. Jira also sends notifications to team members when issues they are working on are updated. Additionally, users can subscribe to be a "watcher" of an issue and get notified when it's updated. This feature is especially useful for managers who need to stay up to date on multiple projects. Teams can use their boards for daily work updates and automatically updated dashboards for leadership updates, eliminating the need for Excel or PowerPoint.

Jira provides users with the flexibility to create workflows that fit their needs, whether they're simple or complex. Workflows can be as easy as "to do - in progress - done," or include a few dozen steps. They can also involve triggers, preconditions, and limit actions to certain roles. For example, only the HR manager can approve an offer to a candidate in the HR workflow. Additionally, users can customize the screens appearing at each step and prompt users to input additional information. This makes it easy to create workflows that are specific to the needs of each team or project.

Jira's permissions and user management options allow users to control who can view, comment, or edit issues based on the project. Users can be managed through groups, so everyone in the Marketing group would automatically get access to marketing-related projects and issues as they are created. Jira also allows users to create roles and restrict certain actions to specific roles. For example, only the Product Owner can start the sprint. These options make it easy for teams to control access and ensure that only authorized users have access to sensitive information.

Jira provides a lot of built-in automation options that users can choose from, such as closing the parent when all children issues are closed. Additionally, Jira provides unlimited options for creating new automations without the need for coding. The automation rules are set up using human language, making it easy for users to create complex automation workflows to help streamline their processes and reduce the risk of human error.

Jira offers a large number of integrations with third-party tools and apps, making it easier for users to manage their workflows all in one place. For software development teams, Jira integrates with deployment tools to track deployment status through Jira issues. Additionally, Jira integrates with popular communication tools such as Slack, as well as a wide variety of other third-party apps. Jira also has a large app store where users can browse and choose from a wide variety of apps to enhance their experience or connect to the tools they are already using in their work.

Jira offers a variety of pricing options to fit the needs and budgets of different teams and organizations. There is a free version for small teams of up to 10 users, as well as paid versions with additional features and capabilities for larger teams and organizations. The paid plans are based on the number of users and start at $7 per user per month, with discounts available for annual subscriptions. Additionally, Jira offers a free trial for new users to test out the platform before committing to a paid plan.



In conclusion, Jira is a versatile and customizable project management tool that offers a wide range of features for teams of all sizes and industries. With its support for Agile frameworks, classical waterfall project management, unlimited boards and dashboards, issue ranking, workflows, user management, automation, and third-party integrations, Jira provides a comprehensive solution for all your project management needs. Whether you're just starting with Jira or want to take your skills to the next level, our online courses, Jira Essentials and Jira Advanced, can help you get the most out of this powerful tool. We hope you're as excited as we are to try out Jira and discover all the ways it can make your team more efficient and effective!