Link Jira issues to KRs

Owned by Derya Özdemir
Last updated: Mar 05, 2024 by Derya Özdemir
4 min read

This page is about OKR for Jira Cloud. Using Data Center? Click here.

This guide explains how to link your Jira issues to Objectives and Key Results. This connection helps visualize how specific tasks in Jira contribute to achieving your strategic goals outlined in OKRs.

Remember:

  • You can use linked issues to visualize and track work contributing to achieving your Key Results.

  • Linked issues do not directly impact the Key Result progress percentage.

Linking from Jira Issue View

  1. Open the issue you want to link.

  2. Click the OKRs panel on the right-hand side of your screen.

    image-20240214-160951.png

  3. Click Connect to OKR.

    image-20240214-161004.png

  4. Select the KR you want to link the issue to from the dropdown menu.

  5. Click Connect.

Now, your issue will appear on the Kanban board associated with the chosen KR.

Linking from Key Result Page

  1. Open the Key Result page you want to link an issue to.

  2. Scroll down to the Linked issues section.

  3. Click Edit linked issues.

  4. Either:

    • Select issues manually by using the quick search and filters.

    • Set up automation rules to automatically link related issues to OKR when certain conditions are met. For example, using this feature, you can link issues that belong to a specific Epic, and when you add more issues to the Epic, those will be automatically linked to the KR as well.

    • Type a JQL query to find specific issues. To learn more about JQL, click here.

  5. All selected issues will be connected to the key result after you click the Save button.

You should now see the issues on the Kanban board.

Both specific issue linking and automated linking are available for the same KR. This is applicable to KRs with both automatic and manual progress tracking.

Creating New Issues Linked to the KR

You can also create new issues while on the KR page. Issues created this way will be connected to the KR from the outset.

  1. Open the Key Result page you want to create and link an issue to.

  2. Scroll down to the Linked issues section.

  3. Click Edit linked issues.

  4. Click the Create issue button at the top-right of the screen. You will see a standard Jira window for creating issues.

  5. Fill in the relevant fields to create the issue. You can import issues as well. For more information on import, click here.

  6. Click Create.

  7. Click Save to complete the process.

Editing Linked Issues

On the KR Overview page, navigate to the Linked issues section, and you will find all the issues linked to the KR. You can edit them by clicking the Edit linked issues button.

In Edit mode, you can search for issues using filters or JQL and create new links, or you can directly create new issues to link directly on this screen. To remove a link, navigate to the tab where the link was initially created. Click the number next to the tab, and then select the checkbox beside the issue you wish to unlink.

You'll also see when the KR was last synced with Jira and can manually trigger a refresh (in case you made changes and want to see the results immediately).