Blockers and excluded resolutions decide two things a board measures: when a work item counts as blocked, and which closed work items count as delivered. Blocked time, flow efficiency, throughput and forecasts follow these choices.
Open the settings #
- Open the board and select Configure.
- Choose Flow & time.
- Scroll to Blockers and Excluded resolutions, at the end of the group, above Publish and recalculate.
Mark blocked work #
Blockers decides when a work item counts as blocked. Three signals work together:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Flag field | A checkbox, select list or radio button field. The work item is blocked while it holds a value. The default is “Flagged (Jira’s default)”; choose No flag field to ignore it |
| Blocking links | Link types and sides, such as “is blocked by”. Select Add link type to pick one; a flow reads up to 10. A link counts only while the work item at its other end is not finished |
| Blocked statuses | A checklist of the flow’s statuses. A work item in a checked status is blocked while its cycle is committed and not delivered. Under a status before the commitment point, “Counts only once the work item is committed.” says that time there before commitment is not blocked time |
A status where this flow delivers cannot be a blocked status, because delivered work is not blocked. Select Reset to Jira’s defaults to go back to the Flagged field, the “is blocked by” link and no blocked status. The reset is published with the next version.
Leave resolutions out #
Excluded resolutions lists the Jira resolutions that do not count as delivered. Choose them under Resolutions left out of delivered work; a flow leaves out up to 50. A work item closed with one of them is left out of delivered work: throughput, cycle time and forecasts don’t count it, but work in progress counted it while it was in progress. A resolution Jira no longer lists stays in the list with a warning, and it matches no work item.
Publish the change #
Blockers and excluded resolutions are published with the flow. Select Publish flow version and follow the steps in Flow, boundaries and blockers. What publishing would change lists them as “Blockers: the flag field, the blocking links or the blocked statuses change. The board’s history is rebuilt.” or “Excluded resolutions: the resolutions left out of delivered work change. The board’s history is rebuilt.”
If something looks off #
- “Jira’s fields and link types could not be read”: the blockers stay as stored and cannot change. Select Try again.
- “Jira’s fields and link types were not read in full”: the stored blockers are shown and cannot change until Jira lists them all. Select Try again.
- “Jira offers no field named Flagged on this site. Choose a flag field, or No flag field.”: choose another flag field, or No flag field, then publish.
- “Jira offers no link side worded “is blocked by” on this site. Remove this row.”: remove the row, or add a link type your site has.
- “This field is no longer available in Jira.” or “This link type is no longer available in Jira.”: choose another field, or remove the link row, then publish.
- “This flow delivers in this status, and delivered work is not blocked. Clear its check to publish.”: clear the check of that status, then publish.
- “You can read this configuration but not change it. A board owner can.”: ask a Board owner to make the change.
Where to go next #
- Flow, boundaries and blockers: the flow these settings are published with.
- Limits, blocks and cycles in the work item panel: where a blocked interval shows on a work item.
