Project management with external customers via Microsoft 365 for Jira

Effective communication between external clients and technical teams is crucial in project management. In this case, Jira provides customizable project tracking to manage tasks and progress. Microsoft 365 tools, like Microsoft Teams, enhance collaboration by integrating with Jira for real-time updates and discussions.

Challenge

Imagine an IT agency building a custom software solution for a manufacturing company. The IT team relies on Jira to manage tasks, while the customer uses Microsoft 365 for their internal workflows. The challenge is ensuring both teams can stay aligned, collaborate smoothly, and track progress without forcing the customer to switch to a new tool. The key is maintaining transparency, coordinating tasks efficiently, and ensuring seamless communication across both platforms.

Solution

To cluster the primary areas of collaboration, we can categorize the synergies into three components: task handling, project management and communication, and internal team collaboration.

Task handling

• Project channel: A dedicated channel in Microsoft Teams is established to enhance collaboration. This channel allows for ticket creation directly from posts using keywords (e.g., #task), promoting transparency in the workflow.

• Issue creation from Outlook emails: Microsoft 365 for Jira enables direct conversion of customer emails into Jira issues, ensuring requests are tracked.

• Automated updates: Built-in Microsoft Teams notifications alert both teams about issue status changes or required input.

Project management and communication

• Jira board in Teams: The Jira board is embedded in the shared Teams channel, making task tracking easier for the customer.

• Project updates: Announcements, milestone updates, weekly meetings in Microsoft Teams are linked to Jira issues and visible in Project channels

• Customer interactions: Regular sync calls, quick group chats, and email integration ensure seamless and structured customer communication in Jira and Microsoft 365.

• Document management: SharePoint stores key decisions and project documentation, accessible in Jira. COMING SOON

Internal team collaboration

• Epic Cards: Key Jira epics are pinned in the internal Teams channel for quick reference, giving an overview of project progress.

• Epic chat: Developers can discuss specific Jira epics in focused Teams chats COMING SOON

• Internal chat: Technical discussions happen in a private Teams channel, avoiding unnecessary exposure to the customer.

• Personal tasks: Individual tasks are managed with Microsoft To Do integrated in Jira.

This setup enables structured task management, clear communication, and efficient collaboration between the IT agency and the external industry customer.