How to Create a Jira Report That Actually Helps Your Team

How to Create a Jira Report That Actually Helps Your Team

Creating a report in Jira can be deceptively simple. But building a Jira report that genuinely improves your team’s workflow, productivity, and decision-making? That requires strategy, insight, and the right tools. For project managers, QA leads, or team coordinators, the ability to present meaningful, actionable data is one of the most valuable assets. Jira, as a powerful issue-tracking and project management platform, provides a variety of native and customizable reporting options. Yet, many teams still struggle with reports that confuse more than they clarify.

If you're tired of reports that look impressive but say nothing, you're not alone. This guide explains how to craft Jira reports that are not only detailed and clear but also tailored to the needs of your team. We’ll explore the different report types in Jira, the strategic purpose behind each, and how to structure your reports to maximize impact. Most importantly, we’ll look at how advanced test management platforms like Testomat can elevate your Jira report process to an entirely new level of efficiency.

Why Jira Reports Matter in Agile Teams

Agile teams rely heavily on fast feedback loops. Scrum sprints, Kanban flows, backlog grooming, and release planning all involve the continual circulation of insights. The Jira report is often the central source of that insight. It translates raw data into team-wide intelligence.

A report done right helps answer:

• Are we on track with our sprint goals?

• Where are the blockers?

• Which team members are overloaded?

• How is the test coverage progressing?

• What tasks are at risk?

Without accurate and meaningful reports, team meetings lose focus, delivery delays go unnoticed, and collaboration becomes reactive rather than proactive. A high-quality report supports real-time decision-making. It ensures transparency and holds the team accountable.

Common Mistakes in Jira Reporting

Before diving into the mechanics of building better reports, it's helpful to look at what often goes wrong:

Overcomplicating the Metrics
Many teams include every available metric, thinking more data equals better insight. This leads to noise, not clarity.

One-Size-Fits-All Reporting
Every stakeholder doesn’t need the same data. Developers need detail, while executives need summaries. Using the same report for both leads to disengagement.

Ignoring Visualization
Data is processed faster visually. Relying on raw tables instead of charts, graphs, or timelines makes comprehension harder.

Lack of Context
A report that shows tasks completed isn’t helpful unless it also conveys if those completions were on time, aligned with the sprint, or if they uncovered new issues.

Neglecting Test Data
Testing is a fundamental part of delivery. Yet many reports fail to integrate test case status, automation progress, and defect trends, especially when external tools are used.

Choosing the Right Type of Jira Report

Jira provides several types of reports by default. These include:

• Sprint Report

• Burnup and Burndown Charts

• Velocity Chart

• Control Chart

• Cumulative Flow Diagram

• Pie Charts for Issue Distribution

• Created vs. Resolved Issues

• Epic and Version Reports

Each serves a unique purpose. For example, the Sprint Report helps Scrum teams evaluate completed versus planned work during a sprint. The Control Chart is more useful for tracking cycle time and identifying bottlenecks in workflows.

Choosing the correct Jira report begins with understanding your audience and the question you're answering. For developers, a burndown chart may be most useful. For QA, a Created vs. Resolved chart can show testing productivity. Executives may prefer Epic reports to monitor business-level progress.

Structuring a Jira Report That Gets Results

The power of a report lies in how it’s structured. Effective reports usually include the following:

1. Summary or Goal Statement
Begin every report with a short summary that outlines its purpose. This helps readers understand what they’re looking at and why it matters.

2. Time Frame and Scope
Clearly define the period and scope covered—current sprint, last quarter, or release-specific issues. Scope helps readers interpret data correctly.

3. Metrics That Matter
Focus on 3–5 KPIs per report. For example:

• % of issues completed

• Test execution rate

• Bug reopening rate

• Automation coverage

• Mean time to resolution

4. Visual Data
Include pie charts, timelines, and trend lines. These increase comprehension and reduce time spent on analysis.

5. Contextual Notes or Commentary
Explain anomalies in the data. For instance, if issue closure was delayed, indicate whether it was due to resource reallocation or unforeseen blockers.

6. Action Items or Recommendations
End with specific next steps. If the QA throughput dropped, suggest retesting priorities or automation increases.

Integrating Test Management into Jira Reports

A frequent blind spot in many Jira reports is quality assurance. Testing often runs in parallel tools, so Jira lacks the full picture. But modern test management platforms like Testomat can integrate deeply with Jira and provide real-time visibility into the QA cycle.

With Testomat, teams can:

• Sync test cases with Jira stories and epics

• Display real-time test run status inside Jira

• Include automated vs. manual execution ratios

• Track regression suite health and flaky tests

• Report on test coverage by requirement

This not only makes QA a visible part of the development process, it empowers decision-makers with the data to improve coverage and reduce risk.

Custom Jira Reports: When Default Isn’t Enough

While Jira’s default reports are useful, many teams eventually outgrow them. When projects become complex, customized reports deliver more value. Here’s how you can create advanced Jira report formats:

1. Use Jira Filters and JQL
JQL (Jira Query Language) allows you to segment issues precisely: by label, component, assignee, sprint, or even custom field values. You can build dashboards based on these queries.

2. Leverage Jira Dashboards
Dashboards combine multiple gadgets into one interface. You can include charts, filter results, activity streams, and calendar timelines.

3. Export to Excel or BI Tools
For even more customization, export Jira data to Excel or connect Jira to business intelligence platforms like Power BI or Tableau. This allows for merging Jira with other datasets such as customer feedback, revenue impact, or incident history.

4. Automation With Testomat
Testomat.io enables dynamic reporting tied to test executions. Reports are automatically updated after each test run, and links to related Jira tickets maintain traceability across requirements, tests, and results.

Best Practices to Maintain Jira Report Quality

Creating a powerful report once is great—but maintaining consistency over time is where true value lies. Follow these best practices:

• Automate data updates where possible. Manual reporting introduces errors.

• Review reports regularly to ensure they remain aligned with team goals.

• Get feedback from your team and stakeholders on report utility.

• Ensure permissions are set correctly—confidential data should not be visible to everyone.

• Standardize formatting so that reports are easy to compare sprint-to-sprint or across teams.

• Include QA representation in reporting cycles so quality trends are visible early.

The Role of Jira Reports in Retrospectives

One of the most underutilized aspects of Jira report generation is using them during sprint retrospectives. A good report helps teams identify what worked, what didn’t, and what to improve. For instance:

• Did velocity drop? Why?

• Were most of the bugs reopened? What patterns are emerging?

• Was automation coverage sufficient, or did manual bottlenecks cause delays?

By tying these answers to actual data—via Testomat and Jira integration—you avoid anecdotal feedback and focus on measurable improvements.

Advanced Reporting for Test-Focused Teams

For QA-heavy teams, integrating rich test metrics into Jira reports is not just beneficial—it’s essential. With Testomat, you can build reports that focus entirely on the testing lifecycle:

• Test case pass/fail trends

• Test execution duration

• Defect leakage rate

• Automation stability

• Environment-specific failures

Such focused Jira reports give QA managers visibility into test health, identify flaky tests early, and ensure test coverage maps to sprint stories and epics.

Real-World Use Case: From Confusion to Clarity

Consider a mid-sized SaaS company managing bi-weekly sprints. Initially, their Jira reports consisted of generic burndown charts and issue counts. Leadership didn’t see value, and retrospectives lacked focus. Test cases were stored separately, causing disconnects between dev and QA.

After implementing Testomat, the team was able to:

• Link 100% of test cases to Jira stories

• Build dashboards showing test execution per feature

• Surface regression risk by coverage

• Show defect origin trends (frontend, API, backend)

• Identify low-performing areas by test flakiness

Reports became insightful, targeted, and valuable—enabling better planning and cross-functional collaboration.

Conclusion: Don’t Just Report—Communicate

A Jira report should never be a data dump. It’s a communication tool. It should speak clearly, answer the right questions, and help the team improve. Whether you're managing a Scrum sprint, planning a release, or leading a QA operation, high-quality reporting is non-negotiable.

And to do it right, tools matter. By using Testomat alongside Jira, you can turn static metrics into meaningful narratives. From sprint efficiency to test health and beyond, the integration provides clarity, traceability, and actionable insight.

Start transforming your Jira reports today. Learn how to build test-aware, decision-ready reports that actually move your team forward:

https://testomat.io/blog/detailed-guide-on-creating-jira-reports-for-your-team/

Read the full guide and elevate your next Jira report from routine to remarkable.