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Implementation Guide: Setup & Resources

Implementation Guide: Setup & Resources

This page helps you get value from SLA Time and Report as quickly as possible.
Below you’ll find a simple implementation plan, team-specific use cases, and all essential resources – guides, videos, and examples – to configure, validate, and scale SLA tracking in Jira.

Implementation Plan: 2 Weeks to Value

Day

Focus Area

Key Actions

Day

Focus Area

Key Actions

Day 1

Setup and Access

  • Add SLA Time and Report from the Atlassian Marketplace.

  • Confirm it appears under Apps → SLA Time and Report.

  • Grant permissions to Jira Admins, Project Admins, and agents who will manage or view SLAs.

  • Ensure the right user groups can see the SLA widget on issues.

Day 2-3

Configuration

Create your first SLA rule

  • Go to SLA Manager → Add SLA

  • Name the SLA (e.g., Resolution Time).

  • Select the project where it will apply.

  • Choose a work schedule (e.g., US Calendar 24/7 or your business-hours calendar).

  • Add a Start condition (example: Status = In Progress).
    This tells the system when the SLA timer begins.

  • Add conditions where time should stop counting (example: Status = Waiting for client’s response).

  • Select the completion rule (example: Status = Done).

Turn on multi-cycle if needed

  • Enable Multi-cycle for tickets that move between statuses multiple times (e.g., Dev ↔ QA).

Set reset logic (optional but recommended)

  • Choose when the SLA should restart (e.g., Status = Reopened).

Define SLA goals

  • Add a goal name (e.g., High Priority, Severity level, etc.).

  • Set the allowed time (e.g., 4h).

  • Define the context (e.g., Priority = High).

Add automated actions for exceeded limits and set pre-breached notifications

  • Choose what happens when SLA time is past due (e.g., Change assignee, Add comment, Send alert).

  • Set pre-breach notifications to warn teams when an SLA is approaching its limit (typically at 80–90%).

Day 4-5

Start SLA Monitoring

  • Confirm the SLA widget shows real-time countdowns

  • Adjust rules if timing doesn’t match expectations

Explore SLA reports

  • Use SLA Report to see: Met vs Exceeded, Breach trends, SLA by priority, assignee, or custom field

  • Monitor all active SLAs in one table (SLA Grid)

Day 6-7

Verification and Workflow Check

Validate SLA logic with team leads

  • Check that Start/Pause/Stop rules reflect real work

  • Make adjustments for special cases (vendors, approval steps, reopened issues)

Confirm accuracy using real tickets

  • Pick 5–10 recent work items

  • Compare SLA timing with expected behavior

  • Fix any gaps (e.g., incorrect pause statuses, missing stop triggers)

Day 8-9

Reporting & Automation

Build dashboards for visibility

  • Add SLA charts to Jira dashboards

  • Create team-specific views (Support, QA, Dev, Ops)

Add advanced notifications

  • Set up alerts for high-risk SLAs

  • Add automated comments or Slack notifications for breached or near-breached issues

Create reusable report presets

  • Build saved views for: weekly service reviews, management/leadership updates, audit/compliance checks

Day 10-12

Process Improvements

Identify patterns from Week 1

  • Look for repeated waits (e.g., “Waiting for Customer” time high)

  • Find common breach points (by priority, assignee, component, team)

Run one small improvement experiment

Examples:

  • Adjust triage for “Urgent” or “High” work items

  • Add a pause rule

  • Reduce “Waiting for Support” loops

  • Add pre-breach alerts for VIP customers

Day 13-14

Re-measure and Stabilize

Compare before vs after

  • Use the same SLA report: Met % ↑, Breach count ↓, Average response/resolution time ↓

Standardize the improvement

  • If the change helped → update your SLA rules and working agreements

  • If not → adjust and try a new experiment

Final training

  • Give teams a short walkthrough/video

  • Make sure everyone knows: how timers work, what alerts mean, how to track high-risk SLAs, how to use the Charts, Grid and Dashboards