How many statuses is too many?

[SockBlocker]

Is it better to allow project admins to create statuses with a simplified workflow, or restrict them to shared configurations? How many statuses in a single Jira instance is too many to affect performance?

[Clark Everson · Accepted solution]

Hi @SockBlocker 

In general, it's better to use shared configuration. The general rule administers follow is try to keep it below 7 statuses unless it's automated.

There's a really good book by another community member @Matt Doar that covers a lot of these basic principles and is pretty short!

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-JIRA-Administration-Effectively-Documentation/dp/1449305415

I would recommend checking it out as it covers a lot of this. It's also best to start rolling out best practices sooner rather than later as it's always harder to cleanup once it gets out of control.

Best,
Clark

[SockBlocker]

thanks for the reply @Clark Everson
If that's the case, it just makes me wonder why Atlassian has the simplified workflow that allows project admins to create their own statuses

[Clark Everson]

Hi @SockBlocker 

So to answer that its actually interesting. If a tool has an admin, then the admin should be monitoring it. However, Atlassian needed to set a low bar of entry to make the tool work right out of the gate. Other tools have done this too like Salesforce. But just because it can be easy to do something doesn't mean it's always right to do it that way. 

Best,
Clark