Agile software development

Using Microsoft 365 tools with Jira for agile software development is a powerful combination for many teams. In the following sections, we’ll show you how integrating both tools can streamline your development process, improve collaboration, and keep everyone aligned throughout the project.

Challenge

Agile software development teams often face difficulties managing both internal and external communication while ensuring that everyone stays aligned and informed. Teams use different tools for collaboration, but without integration, important updates and key decisions can easily be overlooked.

For example, a development team may rely on Jira for managing sprints and epics but depend on Microsoft 365 tools like Teams for communication. The challenge is to link all discussions, updates, and notifications back to Jira to maintain transparency while keeping information flowing smoothly between both platforms.

Solution

By integrating Microsoft 365 with Jira, teams create a central communication hub linking discussions to Jira issues for transparency. Microsoft Teams updates keep developers informed on sprint and epic progress, with real-time alerts and automated workflows ensuring alignment. Stakeholder information is shared via dedicated Teams channels, enabling non-Jira users to track releases and project milestones without direct Jira access.

Issue communication hub

• One issue – one chat: Link dedicated Teams chats to Jira epics and issues for centralized communication, ensuring all relevant discussions are tied directly to the issue.

• Enhanced decision transparency: By using Microsoft Teams, teams can easily maintain visibility of chats for all developers involved, promoting a transparent decision-making process.

• Automation: Leverage automation to generate AI-driven summaries, simplifying workflows and ensuring that updates are clear and concise.

• Real-time notifications: Receive instant alerts for any significant progress updates, ensuring that everyone stays informed as development moves forward.

Updates and notifications

• Keep updates flowing: Use a dedicated Teams channel for tracking sprint or epic updates, ensuring that all members stay on the same page throughout the development cycle.

• Live progress view: Track builds, deployments, and overall development progress organized under epic cards in Jira, with live synchronization across both platforms. COMING SOON

• Sync discussions: Automatically synchronize discussions from Teams back to Jira to maintain a complete record of all conversations related to each issue.

Stakeholder information

• Release channel on Teams: Set up a release channel in Teams to keep non-Jira stakeholders informed about shipped items and progress COMING SOON

• View Jira board in Teams: Allow non-Jira users to view the Jira board directly within Teams, providing a roadmap overview without requiring a Jira account.