Updating a plan

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This page refers to Portfolio classic plans. If you are currently running Portfolio 2.0, please check this link to access the latest page version.

The update plan from date capability allows you to easily re-sync your high-level roadmap with what has been accomplished on your issues in your Jira application. 

Updating a plan from date

When you log work on an issue, the remaining estimate is updated in the Jira application but not in Portfolio for Jira. The Update from date feature allows you to update the remaining estimate in Portfolio for Jira backlog.

Follow these steps to update a plan from date: 

  1. Before updating from date make sure that the option Update estimates is enabled by going to Plan > Configure > Synchronization and selecting On.
  2. Go back to  Plan > Update from date.
  3. Select a date from which you want to update with the remaining efforts and click Initialize.
  4. Select Confirm update.
  5. If you need input from multiple people to complete a plan update, you can edit the plan update, but instead of confirming, select Close (keep pending).  The pending plan update will be visible for any user accessing that plan, so that others can also make their suggested changes until the update is confirmed. 
    The suggestions on remaining estimates and completed items are initialized when opening the plan update. If time is logged after that, it is not considered in the suggestion, since this could potentially overwrite manual changes you have made. If you want to re-initialize the suggestions, discard the plan update and initialize it again from the same date.
    • If you want subtasks' estimates to be taken into account, run Update from date after the import has been completed.
    • If you import an issue that has subtasks, the estimate will match the parent issue's estimate.
    • If the plan that you are importing to is set to story points, Portfolio for Jira will not suggest an estimated time. Subtasks' estimates will not be taken into account if the progress method is set to story points or resolved issue count either.
    • If you are working with iterations, it is recommended that you use the planned start date of the upcoming sprint as the update date.

Once the plan is updated, the estimates are updated according to the changes made in update dialog. The values in the Estimate column are always viewed as remaining estimates; those efforts are considered open, and are scheduled starting from either the start date of the first release or the plan update date.

The plan schedule is set to start from the plan update date. Progress tracking and time spent is based on all work logs since the last update. The team time spent really indicates how much has been completed based on the remaining estimates. 

The way plan updates work is based on the idea of looking forward, not backwards. With the plan update, you tick off what happened before (store if for reference, just in case), and re-focus on what still needs to be accomplished from that point forward.


Jira application
DefinitionBehavior
Original EstimateAmount of time originally anticipated to resolve the issue estimation. The estimation is typically performed against Primary Backlog Items and is used to work out how long portions of the backlog might take to be delivered.When work is first logged against the issue, the time spent is subtracted from the original estimate and the resulting value is automatically presented in the remaining estimate.
Remaining EstimateRemaining amount of time currently anticipated to resolve the issue.

When subsequent work is logged, any time spent is subtracted away from the remaining estimate.

Portfolio for Jira
DescriptionBehavior
Estimate
  • The Estimate column in the backlog refers to the original and remaining estimate of an issue.
  • If your plan is set to story points, Portfolio for Jira map the estimate in story points.

When work is logged on an issue, the remaining estimate is updated in Jira but not in Portfolio for Jira. In order to update the estimate in Portfolio for Jira you have to run an update from date.


Originally Planned
  • Shows the originally planned Estimate once you've manually updated the time and your Estimate column has been updated.
  • When you're working with story points, you can't see the originally planned estimate in your Jira application.
It keeps your original estimates as reference after you run an update so you can always compare.

Automatic suggestions for completion and remaining estimates

After initializing the plan update, you'll see a dialog with all open items in the backlog, and if applicable, suggestions for both the completion status items and the expected remaining estimates.

Changes are highlighted in the table, the darker value indicates that a cell has been directly changed, light blue means there are changes in one of the related child columns/rows, which also impact this cell (for example, a single estimate on a stage has changed, which then also changes the total estimate as a result).  

Showing completed items and original estimates

With the plan update the estimates have been reduced to what is still remaining. However, your original estimates are not lost. With the first plan update, they are kept for reference, so that you can compare the original plan later against what is still remaining. 

Use the Status Filter to show open issues or open and completed issues. 

Last modified on Nov 29, 2018

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