The solution for effective project management: Atlassian Jira and BigPicture

The combination of Atlassian Jira and BigPicture offers a powerful solution for the optimal management of projects and resources. Whilst Jira is a tried-and-tested tool, BigPicture significantly extends its functionality, including seamless resource and skills planning, as well as support for traditional, agile and hybrid management methods. Find out how Jira and BigPicture work together to optimise your project management.

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Why use Jira and BigPicture for project management?

Project management is an essential part of business success. Choosing the right tools can make the difference between a well-managed and a chaotic project. Atlassian Jira, a powerful tool for task and project management, becomes an even more effective solution when integrated with BigPicture.

Here are a few reasons why combining Jira and BigPicture is an excellent choice for your project management:

BigPicture, a powerful solution for keeping track of project resources and their utilisation

Resource planning

BigPicture – Managing team members’ availability and skills

Skill configuration

1.
Effective resource and skills planning

In a project environment, questions such as ‘What is the current status?’, ‘How far have we got?’, ‘What can we do to speed things up?’ or ‘What is the team’s workload like?’ crop up time and again. Answering such questions is often a challenge, particularly in complex projects.

BigPicture offers a powerful solution here, which not only helps you keep track of project resources and their workload, but also manage team members’ availability and skills.

2.
Comprehensive project overview

With larger and more complex projects, it can be difficult to keep track of the big picture. The complexity of these projects often means that you can only see part of the whole picture.

BigPicture offers a Jira extension that addresses precisely this issue: it provides a comprehensive visualisation of the project, including the links between tasks, epics and stories, and their contribution to the overarching objectives.

3.
Efficient task allocation and coordination

BigPicture helps to distribute the workload evenly, allocate resources effectively and coordinate teams’ work efficiently.

The app offers features for detailed planning and resource management, so you can keep track of your team’s availability and workload at all times. This helps to avoid bottlenecks and ensure that no resources go unused.

4.
Rapid reporting and progress monitoring

One of BigPicture’s strengths is its ability to report on progress quickly and accurately. The integrated reporting functions provide detailed insights into project status, performance and potential risks.

This transparency facilitates decision-making and ensures that all stakeholders are kept up to date at all times.

5.
Seamless integration with Jira

BigPicture has been specifically developed for integration with Jira. This seamless integration ensures that all your project data is available in one place, which facilitates collaboration and communication within the team.

The application is flexible and supports various management methods, including traditional waterfall, agile methods such as Scrum and Kanban, as well as hybrid approaches. The logic and structure of the data are set up in Jira, whilst BigPicture is used for visualisation. Thanks to the integration, changes made in Jira are reflected in BigPicture – and vice versa.

6.
Support for various management methods

Whether you prefer traditional, agile or hybrid project management methods, BigPicture supports them all. It is compatible with popular frameworks such as SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) and can be easily adapted to your specific requirements. This flexibility allows you to choose the method that best suits your project and team, and to adapt as needed.

By using Atlassian Jira in combination with BigPicture, you benefit from a robust, flexible and adaptable project management solution. This combination helps you complete projects on time and within budget, boost productivity and achieve your business objectives.

Features of BigPicture

BigPicture, in conjunction with Jira, offers a wide range of features that make project and portfolio management considerably easier.

Here are some of the key features that make BigPicture an indispensable addition to your project management toolkit:

1. Flexible portfolio structure

With BigPicture, you can set up any portfolio structure you require. The tool offers various types of boxes, known as ‘box types’ (e.g. Sprint, Agile Project, Portfolio), through which data can be collected and aggregated. This flexibility enables you to track progress at many different levels and generate consistent reports.

2. Multi-project and filter support

BigPicture is not limited to viewing a single project. It is also possible to view multiple projects simultaneously and integrate issues from custom JQL (Jira Query Language) filters. This functionality enables a more comprehensive analysis and management of projects and issues.

3. Resource and capacity planning

BigPicture offers comprehensive options for resource and capacity planning. These include:

  • Resource allocation: Teams and individuals can be assigned to specific tasks. This helps to distribute the workload efficiently and prevent overloading.

  • Monitoring resource utilisation: By continuously monitoring resource utilisation, conflicts can be quickly identified and resolved, or even avoided.

  • Capacity planning: Working hours, absences such as holidays and public holiday schedules can be set individually in each user’s profile. This is particularly useful for companies with sites in different regions, as different public holiday schedules can be created and assigned to the relevant resources.

4. Skills planning

Skills planning in BigPicture ensures that the right skills are available to carry out tasks:

  • Skill definition: A list of skills or qualifications relevant to the team or organisation can be created

  • Skill allocation: Resources can be assigned specific skills to ensure they are suitable for upcoming tasks

  • Bottleneck identification: Bottlenecks in specific skills can be identified, which promotes the development of skills and qualifications within the team or organisation

5. Visual modules

BigPicture offers various modules in which the collected data is displayed visually. Here are some of the most important modules:

  • Gantt module: In the Gantt module, tasks are displayed on a timeline and dependencies between tasks are visualised. Milestones and overdue tasks are shown.

    Furthermore, tasks can be displayed in a hierarchy to identify task packages.

  • Risk Matrix: In this module, tasks can be arranged as cards based on their assessment of risk probability and impact. This helps to identify and manage potential risks.

  • Board module: This module offers the ability to manage dependencies between tasks. It enables a clear visualisation of the relationships between different tasks and facilitates coordination within the team.

6. Reports and Calendar

BigPicture enables the creation of a wide range of reports that provide in-depth insights into project status and performance. In addition, there is a calendar module that provides a clear overview of dates and deadlines.

7. Customisation Options

Another major advantage of BigPicture is its high level of customisation. The various modules and functions can be tailored to the specific needs and requirements of your project or organisation. This ensures that BigPicture delivers exactly what you need and integrates seamlessly into your existing workflows.

A look at the solution

Webinar recording: Successful multi-project management with Big Picture for Jira

In our webinar recording, “Discover BigPicture – Your Key to Effective Project Management”, we take you on a detailed tour of the application and show you how you can use Jira and BigPicture to plan, track and manage your projects efficiently. You’ll have the opportunity to take a look inside the software and gain an overview of its versatile features. From resource planning and capacity management to skills planning – we’ll demonstrate how you can make the most of these tools to achieve your project goals and manage your teams effectively.

Join us and find out first-hand how you can make your projects more transparent and successful with Jira and BigPicture. Be inspired by our experts and discover new ways to optimise your project management.

Watch the free webinar recording now

Conclusion

Together, Jira and BigPicture form a modern solution for task and project management. Jira, already a tried-and-tested tool, is significantly enhanced by BigPicture’s features. This combination enables comprehensive resource and skills planning, supports various project management methodologies, and ensures seamless integration and adaptability. These tools enable projects to be planned, managed and monitored efficiently. This not only leads to improved workload distribution and the avoidance of bottlenecks, but also to greater transparency and control over complex projects. Organisations benefit from a robust and flexible solution that helps them successfully complete projects and achieve their business objectives.

Should you have any further questions about your project management, Jira or BigPicture, we’re always happy to help. Book a free consultation directly or watch our free webinar recording to expand your knowledge!

Teresa Burtscher
02. August 2024 

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