Team-managed vs Company-managed projects in Jira

In Jira, there are two main project types: team-managed projects and company-managed projects. Each type has distinct features and is suitable for different use cases depending on the needs of the team or organization. But which one is right for you?

Here’s a detailed comparison:

Team-Managed Projects

1. Ownership and Control

• Owned by Teams: Team-managed projects are designed to be self-contained and controlled by the team using them. This means the team has autonomy over their processes, configurations, and workflows without needing administrative support.

  
  

  

2. Configuration

• Simplified Setup: The configuration of team-managed projects is streamlined and user-friendly, making it easy for non-technical users to set up and manage their project settings.

• Customizable Workflows: Teams can customize their workflows, issue types, and fields without impacting other projects or requiring global permissions.

3. Flexibility

• Dynamic Adjustments: Changes can be made quickly and easily by the team, allowing for agile adaptations based on the team’s immediate needs.

• Independent Customization: Each team-managed project operates independently, meaning changes in one project don’t affect others.

4. Audience

• Ideal for Small Teams: Best suited for small, autonomous teams that require flexibility and quick adjustments without heavy dependencies on organizational structures.

5. Drawbacks

The freedom to customize team-managed projects can result in a maze of inconsistencies. Each project admin can set up their own custom fields, status names, and workflows. This means you could end up with multiple projects that have different names for the same fields and varied workflows. Cross-project reporting can become a real nightmare. Think about trying to generate a report on all "In Progress" issues across projects, only to find that each project uses different status names or transitions. It gets even messier when you discover multiple custom fields for the same data point, like phone numbers, scattered across various projects. Good luck making sense of that data.

Company-Managed Projects

1. Ownership and Control

• Controlled by Admins: Company-managed projects are typically set up and maintained by Jira administrators, giving them the ability to enforce standardization and compliance across the organization.

2. Configuration

• Advanced Configuration: These projects offer more advanced configuration options, including complex workflows, permissions, and schemes, which can be centrally managed.

• Global Schemes: Shared schemes (workflows, screens, fields, etc.) allow for consistency across multiple projects.

3. Flexibility

• Centralized Management: Changes often require administrator intervention, which can provide oversight and prevent uncontrolled changes but may slow down the process of implementing changes. However, this process helps maintain consistency and standard practices across an organization, ensuring that all projects adhere to company policies and procedures.

• Shared Resources: Changes in shared schemes affect all projects using them, which can be both an advantage (consistency) and a disadvantage (lack of independence).

4. Audience

• Suitable for Larger Organizations: Best for larger organizations that need to enforce standardized processes, compliance, and reporting across multiple teams and projects.

5. Drawbacks

Company-managed projects have their own set of challenges. Setting them up can be complex and time-consuming, requiring a good understanding of the system. The benefit is that once configured, these schemes can be shared across all projects, ensuring consistency and alignment with company standards. Only system administrators can make changes, which offers control but can also slow down quick adjustments.

However, this level of control brings rigidity. While standardized schemes are great for consistency, they can stifle flexibility, making it hard for teams to customize projects to their specific needs. This can be frustrating for teams that need to pivot quickly or try new approaches. So, while company-managed projects offer robust control and standardization, they can be cumbersome to set up and might lack the flexibility some teams require. Balancing these pros and cons is key to deciding if this approach suits your needs.

Summary

Team-managed projects in Jira are user-friendly and flexible, making them suitable for smaller, autonomous teams that require quick setup and adaptation without administrative intervention. If you work in a startup with less than 25 people and just a handful of projects, by all means use team-managed projects. However, to avoid an explosion of custom fields, I would recommend to use global custom fields wherever possible. Even if it's slightly more inconvenient to create a new field if it doesn't already exist.

In contrast, company-managed projects offer advanced configuration options and are managed by administrators, ensuring standardized processes, compliance, and consistency across larger organizations with more complex needs. Use company-managed projects if you require cross-project collaboration and reporting.