Nexus Sprint Backlog in JIRA

Might the Nexus Sprint Backlog be represented as a filter or view of all Sprint Backlogs in the Nexus?

Having used Jira in a multi-product and multi-team environment, here are some of my tips:

• Each Jira project equates to a product. This better enables the use of the version related fields, ability to generate releases and release notes, and some other things without much manual effort.
• The configuration of issue types, workflows, screens, and so on is attached to the project so all the teams follow the same general workflow. I recommend making the workflow generic enough to give the teams some flexibility, but specific enough to keep them aligned - this is an art.
• If you have multiple teams on one product (Jira project), add a field to capture the team doing the work.
• You can then create multiple boards within the project, either Scrum or Kanban style. Each team can have their own board filtered based on the team. You can also create boards and backlogs for the Nexus or to track individual releases. Since boards are just queries and filters, it's pretty easy.

I would also add two more things:

• Use labels. This can help show or hide things, either from the team backlogs or the Nexus backlogs. You can include these in your queries as appropriate. Some standard labels by convention can help, but labels also give the team a lot of internal flexibility.
• Don't discount the Confluence integration. Being able to generate pages based on Jira queries showing issues or data graphs/charts can be hugely beneficial.

Thanks for those tips Ian and Thomas!!!

I personally like to use Jira Components, write a JQL to use the component, and then make a board using the JQL.

Thomas Owens, two questions:

1. Given your recommendations above, would you recommend keeping a copy of the Nexus Backlog board on every Jira project?

2. Have you encountered a way to represent Jira dependency links across teams & sprints automatically?  So far, I see a Server plug-in, but not Cloud.  (see https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1218391/dependency-map-for-jira-link-viewer?hosting=server&tab=overview)   I'm currently looking for anything that could import story data and display this.

I've tried several of these approaches, but ended up using a single project and board with an active Jira "sprint" for each team in the Nexus. This allows each team to utilize the sprint/team functionality built into Jira (for example, sprint goals, planning, and closing out a sprint). In our version of Jira you can filter a Scrum board by a specific active "sprint" or by "all sprints".

We also use the Portfolio "Team" field for Nexus planning and then a filter on the backlog to allow each team to focus on their potential backlog candidates. We used a label (and looked into using a component) before Portfolio was available.

We are working with more teams and more products in one project in Jira. To filter the right Sprint board for each team, we create a label with the name of the Product. 

Two teams working on the same product choose their work by Epic, which is also mentioned as a label. So the two teams that actually have the same skills and work on the same Product know each others work by Epic.

We already worked from one product backlog (label=product) and plan our sprints (two teams) together. From what I understand from this post, we can use Filters to create a so called Nexus Spring Backlog by querying the active sprints from one Product.

Given your recommendations above, would you recommend keeping a copy of the Nexus Backlog board on every Jira project?

I don't know what this means.

I do think that there's value in having a board (and it's associated backlog) set up with filters that show the work of all teams in the Nexus. This is where stakeholders outside the Nexus should be looking to understand what work is in progress, its current state, and what is likely to be the next things worked on by the team. A stakeholder should not have to know what team is doing the work in order to look it up on a team's board. Each team should have its own board (and associated backlog) for work that has been pull in by that particular Scrum team.

If you are following the model of one Jira project equates to one product and one Nexus is aligned with one product, I'm not sure where copies come in. If you have multiple products each with their own Nexus, then you'll need to configure the boards appropriately in each project.

Have you encountered a way to represent Jira dependency links across teams & sprints automatically?  So far, I see a Server plug-in, but not Cloud.  (see https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1218391/dependency-map-for-jira-link-viewer?hosting=server&tab=overview)   I'm currently looking for anything that could import story data and display this.

No, but I've also never had a need for something like this. The ability to link issues and view related issues (especially using the "blocks" / "is blocked by" relationship) is sufficient for my needs. If something is blocked by something else, a team must either wait for the blocking item to be done or pull the work in to the same Sprint.