Tasks vs Subtasks in Jira

[@ApetechTechTutorials]

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[@jcastro1978]

Thank you. After searching and watching several videos, yours was the only one that clearly explained the use of subtasks.🙂

[@toms1071]

The explanation I was looking for! Thank you! Regards from Argentina

[@seHmo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:13 📚 The video provides insight on the difference between tasks and subtasks in Jira. 00:58 🔲 A task in Jira is a base issue type, being treated similarly to a story or bug. 01:40 📝 Tasks are used for work which delivers value to a customer, while subtasks comprise work that does not deliver value. 03:04 ❗ A subtask in Jira cannot be created as a standalone; it must be tied to a parent issue, such as a task or story. 04:10 🔍 Subtasks are essentially used to mirror the technical details of how to accomplish a task. 05:35 👀 Although subtasks appear on a board, they do not show up on the backlog, meaning that planning a sprint does not involve subtasks. 06:31 💡 If you are approaching Jira with an agile mindset, it's more likely that your conception of a task actually aligns with a subtask in Jira. 07:13 💼 In Jira, you are able to add additional issue types to track other factors like risks, in addition to tasks and subtasks. 07:26 🎯 The video aims to clarify when to use tasks and subtasks in Jira while highlighting their unique advantages.

[@patricioibarrag]

Hi, if user stories and tasks are at the same hierarchy level when you create sub-tasks for both types of workload, how can you track the progress of each sub-tasks to see how team members are performing? It seems that Jira doesn't allow you to monitor sub-tasks in reports, which is super bad because you can't understand how each team member is performing individually. Would you happen to have any solution for this? (I need to track the time of each team member from a sub-task level) NOTE: I understand "User Stories" as customer needs or functional needs, and "Tasks" as system needs or infrastructure needs (non-functional needs).

[@ApetechTechTutorials]

You can't at the report level. Jira is behaving the way it should with respect to reporting on sub-tasks. I don't typically track hours, so I would have to investigate how to do this. The Story Points are usually what I use to measure progress which is at the Story/Task level.

[@drfranca1985]

I like to use Tasks as Subtasks for Stories, since for me every task IS for the user, more flexible to use.

[@thbtse]

Interesting topic. So for issues like ‘set up environment variables’ or ‘set up load balancer’ of software product development projects, does it seem as task rather than story?

[@renuketu1710]

You are SO Good, thank you 🙏

[@christopherholland9999]

I am new to this, but I think it should be something like this Epic->Story->Task->Sub Task. That makes sense, but I think it would be nice to add Epics under Epics and Sub Tasks under Subtasks and Even Epics Under Tasks, etc. Example: Car Project->Design Car -> Build Car->Build Engine. From that Epic and Story, there are a whole lot more stories, epics and tasks. The only thing that makes sense is whoever is running the project decides where they all go, since they have to manage it the best way they know how.

[@ApetechTechTutorials]

It would be cool if you had some freedom to set them up however you want. . . but we have to play by the rules Atlassian gives us.

[@CJ-hj5vm]

Hi, when filtering the subtasks on your board (as you did in the "Subtask Sprints" chapter), isn't it problematic that you no longer see the priority of the user story in relation to the other issues?

[@ApetechTechTutorials]

I would say no, because all of the subtasks need to be completed before the end of the sprint. . .otherwise, you can't close the sprint.

[@CanOkyayKly]

But, story points for sub tasks are not visible on the backlog. Won't it be a problem in sprint planning?

[@ApetechTechTutorials]

That is correct. I recently recorded a video that shows you how to aggregate those points up to the Story. It is going to be published within the next week or two, so keep an eye out.

[@0205shirley]

Can a sub task help define your definition of done?