The calendar tells a board which hours count as working time. Service level expectations (SLEs) are the number of days your team agreed to finish work in. Both sit in Flow & time.

An agreed SLE is what a work item’s age is compared with. Its Work card shows its age against the SLE, the Past SLE filter finds the ones past it, the Work item age chart in Analyze draws it as a line, and Risk warns when a work item approaches or passes it.

Set the working calendar #

Under Calendar, set:

• Time zone: the zone the working day is read in.
• Working days: tick the days the team works. Choose at least one.
• Work starts and Work ends: the working window. A new board starts Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 18:00.

A window that ends before it starts crosses midnight and counts toward the day it starts, and Crosses midnight shows beside the times. A window that ends when it starts is refused: “The window ends when it starts. Choose another time.”

A new board shows the tile “Applied default: confirm it or change it”: the app applied a standard working week when the board was created.

Charts use elapsed time by default. The calendar counts only where you choose Business hours under Time in Analyze (Flow metrics in Analyze).

Add dated exceptions #

A dated exception is a day the team does not work, such as a public holiday. A calendar holds up to 400.

1. Select Add a dated exception.
2. Enter the Date, with a four-digit year, and a Name.
3. Select Add.

Each date can be listed once. A row’s menu holds Edit dated exception and Remove dated exception.

Save the calendar #

1. On the Advanced edition, where the board’s level asks for one, the calendar panel shows a Reason for the change field above Save (Governance and reasons for a change). Enter it first: Save waits for it.
2. Select Save, or Confirm the calendar to keep the applied default.
3. In “Save the calendar?”, read Boards on this calendar.
4. Select Save the calendar.

Cycle time, lead time and work item age counted in business hours change on every board that uses this calendar, for everyone. Figures in elapsed time and counts stay as they are. Saving recalculates this board, and a line under the calendar says how the recalculation ended.

Agree service levels #

Under Service level expectation, each row is a class of service with its Agreed SLE, days: a whole number of calendar days from 1 to 3,650.

1. Select Create class of service.
2. Name the class.
3. Enter its agreed days.

A flow holds up to 20 classes. In a row, Clear takes the days back and Remove deletes the class.

The Expedite box names a class as your expedite lane. Its work items still count toward WIP limits, except a board or column limit set to leave Expedite out (Policies and WIP limits).

Rework service level expectation holds one agreed number, Agreed rework SLE, days, for every rework cycle: a cycle of a work item that was delivered before, or whose first delivery cannot be proven. Leave it empty and a rework cycle’s age is compared with nothing.

Map classes of service #

The mapping decides which class a work item belongs to, and so which agreed number its age is compared with. With one agreed class, every work item takes it and no mapping is needed. With several, map them, or no age is compared. A class left unmapped is compared with nothing. Under Classes of service:

1. Select Add a class of service.
2. Choose the class.
3. Enter the JQL under Work items in this class (JQL).
4. Select Add.

Only a class with an agreed number can be mapped. A flow maps up to 5 classes. A row’s menu holds Edit class of service and Remove class of service.

A work item takes the first class it matches, so order the rows from the narrowest query to the widest. Jira runs each query as the person reading the board, over the work items they can see. For Work items in none of these classes, choose a class or Leave unclassified. An unclassified work item is named as a coverage gap beside every figure compared with an agreed expectation.

If something looks off #

• “Choose at least one working day.”: tick a day before you save.
• “This date is already listed.”: edit the existing exception instead.
• “An agreed expectation is a whole number of calendar days, from 1 to 3,650.”: correct the days.
• “Agree an expectation for a class of service first; only a class with one can be mapped.”: enter days for the class, then map it.
• “Nothing to save: this calendar is exactly the one stored.”: change something first.