Meet the new BigPicture navigation
A faster, smarter, and more intuitive way to work is here. We’ve redesigned BigPicture navigation to give you a smoother experience and better access to what matters most.
→ Discover what’s new, explore key improvements, and review feature name updates on the New navigation page.
→ The rollout will happen gradually, and the previous navigation will be retired in September 2026.
Link work items to Key Results
Linking specific tasks to Key Results (KRs) is an effective way to ensure alignment and clarity that every effort contributes meaningfully to achieving Objectives. It also lets you track your KRs' progress based on the status of the linked work items/tasks.
In the OKR module, you can associate Key Results with Jira work items and boxes.
Visit the Auto-KR page to learn how linked work items and linked boxes affect auto-KR’s progress.
Linked work items help you visualize and track the work contributing to your Key Results. However, they do not directly affect the Key Result's progress (unless you convert it to auto-KR).
You can add multiple work items to one Key Result and one work item to multiple Key Results. However, the task hierarchy in the Gantt module built by the Objective & Key Result structure builder works correctly only when one work item is assigned per Key Result. Work items assigned to multiple Key Results appear only once.
Permissions
To link a work item to a particular KR, a user needs to be permitted to view or manage the item they want to link.
Users who are not permitted to view or manage a linked work item will not see it under the respective KR on the OKR Overview page.
Link existing work items to KRs
You can link a work item to a KR on the following pages:
On the Key Result details page
On the OKR Overview page, click the Key Result to open its details on the side panel.
On the panel, click the triple dots (…) and select Details.
On the Key Result details page, scroll down to the Linked work items section.
Click the Edit linked work items button.
On the Edit linked work items screen, select a work item you want to link to a KR in the following ways:
Search for a work item manually using the search bar and Jira dropdowns (Project, work item Type, etc.).
Set up automation rules to link related work items to OKRs automatically when specific conditions are met. For example, you can link work items within a specific Epic, and any new work items added to that Epic will also be automatically linked to the KR.
Type a JQL query to find a specific work item.
Click Save to complete the process.
For the same Key Result, both specific work items linking and automated linking can be used. This applies to Key Results with either automatic or manual progress tracking.
On the Key Result creation screen
Add a new Key Result to a selected Objective or sub-objective.
On the Key Result creation screen, click Link work items.
On the Edit linked work items screen, select a work item you want to link to a KR in the following ways:
Search for a work item manually using the search bar and Jira dropdowns (Project, work item Type, etc.).
Set up automation rules to link related work items to OKRs automatically when specific conditions are met. For example, you can link work items within a specific Epic, and any new work items added to that Epic will also be automatically linked to the KR.
Type a JQL query to find a specific work item.
Click Link work items, then Save to complete the process.
Link new work items to Key Results
On the Key Result details side panel
On the OKR Overview page, click the Key Result to open its details on the side panel.
On the panel, click More options (…) and select Create new work item.
Enter the Jira work item details.
Click Create to complete the process.
On the Key Result details page
On the OKR Overview page, click the Key Result to open its details on the side panel.
On the panel, click More options (…) and select Details.
On the Key Result details page, scroll down to the Linked work items section.
On the Edit linked work items screen, click Create work item.
Enter Jira work item details.
Click Create, then Save to complete the process.
Limitations
You can link either Jira work items or boxes to one KR.