How to Create a New Jira Project: A Full Step-by-Step Guide

Creating a Jira project can look simple until you face the template choices, project types, permissions, and workflow settings. Choose the wrong option, and your team may spend weeks working around confusing screens, missing access, or unsuitable issue types.

The problem grows when everyone starts adding custom fields and statuses without a shared plan. Reports become unreliable, boards become cluttered, and small tasks disappear among unrelated work.

But here's the truth: you can create a clean Jira project in minutes when you decide the project structure before clicking through the setup screen. This guide shows you exactly what to choose, how to configure the essentials, and how to avoid common mistakes.

How to Create a New Jira Project

To create a new Jira project, open Projects, select Create project, choose a suitable template, name the project, set its key and access options, then finish the setup. You should configure the workflow, issue types, board, permissions, and notifications before inviting the wider team.

1. Confirm Your Jira Permissions

Start by checking whether your Jira account can create projects. Jira administrators usually control this permission, although your organization may allow selected project managers to create team-managed projects.

Open Jira and look for the Projects menu. If you see an option such as Create project, you probably have the required access. If the option is missing, ask your Jira administrator to grant permission or create the project for you.

This check saves time because template selection cannot solve an access problem. For example, a marketing manager may have permission to create issues without having permission to create a new project.

2. Open the Project Creation Screen

Select Projects in the main navigation, then choose Create project. Jira may show different screens depending on whether you use Jira Cloud, Jira Software, Jira Work Management, or Jira Service Management.

You may also see a project creation button on the Projects page. The wording can vary slightly after Jira updates its interface, but the process remains similar.

Before continuing, decide who will use the project. A software development team may need sprints and backlogs, while a facilities team may need request queues and approval steps.

3. Choose a Project Template

Templates give your project a starting structure. Choose the one that matches the way your team works today, rather than selecting the template with the most features.

• Scrum: Useful for teams that plan work in timeboxed sprints.
• Kanban: Suitable for continuous work that moves through stages.
• Bug tracking: Helpful when the main goal is recording, prioritizing, and resolving defects.
• Task tracking: Practical for general work, internal projects, and operational activities.
• Project management: Useful for milestones, dependencies, assignments, and progress tracking.
• Service management: Designed for requests, incidents, approvals, and support operations.

For example, a product team releasing updates every two weeks may choose Scrum. A content team handling requests throughout the week may find Kanban easier to maintain.

Jira may ask whether you want a team-managed or company-managed project. Team-managed projects provide more local control. Company-managed projects offer centralized configuration and consistency across multiple teams.

4. Select Team-Managed or Company-Managed

This choice affects how much control your project team has over configuration.

A five-person design team may prefer team-managed because it can adjust statuses quickly. A large engineering department may prefer company-managed because several teams need consistent workflows and reporting.

You might be wondering: can you change this choice later? Some Jira plans support migration options, but changes can require careful planning. Select the model that matches your governance needs from the beginning.

5. Name the Project Clearly

Enter a project name that explains the work without requiring extra context. “Website Relaunch” is clearer than “Project Alpha,” especially when several teams use Jira.

Good project names usually include the team, service, product, or business goal. Examples include:

• Customer Support Operations
• Mobile App Improvements
• Annual Conference Planning
• Website Accessibility Program

Jira may generate a project key from the name. You can often edit it before creation. Keep the key short, recognizable, and easy to type in searches or issue references.

For example, “Mobile App Improvements” could use the key MAI. Avoid vague keys such as TEST, especially if the project will continue beyond an initial trial.

6. Choose the Project Lead

The project lead usually coordinates configuration, permissions, workflow questions, and general ownership. Select someone who understands the team’s work and can respond when Jira needs attention.

The project lead does not need to manage every issue. Their role is closer to a project steward. They help keep the setup useful as the team’s needs change.

For a customer support project, the support operations manager may be the best lead. For a product development project, the product manager or delivery lead may be more suitable.

7. Set Access and Visibility

Choose who can view and work in the project. Common options include private access, organization-wide access, or access for specific groups.

Start with the smallest audience that needs access. You can expand visibility later when the workflow is stable and the team understands the information being tracked.

Consider three questions:

• Who should create issues?
• Who should view project progress?
• Who should edit workflows, fields, and project settings?

For example, an internal hiring project may contain sensitive information. A public product roadmap may need broader viewing access but limited editing permissions.

8. Create the Project

Review the project name, key, template, lead, and access settings. Then select Create project.

Jira should open the new project dashboard or project view. You may see a board, backlog, issue list, reports, project details, and settings based on the selected template.

At this point, the project exists. The setup is not finished yet. Take a few minutes to test the main workflow before inviting everyone.

9. Create a Test Issue

Create one realistic issue to check how the project behaves. Use a title your team might actually create, such as “Review checkout error messages” or “Prepare quarterly support report.”

Check the available issue types, fields, priorities, assignees, labels, and statuses. Move the issue through each important stage to confirm the workflow matches your process.

A test issue can reveal problems quickly. If the team needs an approval stage but the workflow jumps directly from “In Progress” to “Done,” you can correct it before work begins.

10. Invite the Team and Explain the Rules

Invite the people who need access, then explain how the project should be used. Keep the first explanation practical and brief.

Show your team how to create an issue, add useful details, assign work, change status, and find their assigned items. Explain which fields matter and which labels the team should use.

The best part? A short working agreement often prevents more confusion than a long administration session. For example, you might agree that every issue needs an owner, a clear outcome, and one priority level.

Choose the Right Jira Project Type

The project type shapes your board, planning views, reports, and daily habits. The right choice depends on how work moves through your team.

Scrum Projects

Scrum projects suit teams that plan work in sprints. The team selects work for a sprint, completes it during a fixed period, and reviews progress afterward.

A software team running two-week sprints may use a backlog for prioritization and a sprint board for daily coordination. Scrum becomes less helpful when priorities change several times each day.

Kanban Projects

Kanban projects support continuous delivery. Work moves through columns such as To Do, In Progress, Review, and Done.

A facilities team handling maintenance requests may prefer Kanban. Each request enters the board, moves through inspection and scheduling, then reaches completion without waiting for a sprint boundary.

Business and Task Projects

General task projects work well for event planning, marketing campaigns, finance activities, and internal operations. They usually need clear ownership, due dates, priorities, and progress stages.

Keep the workflow simple unless the work genuinely requires extra control. A six-stage approval process can slow down a small team managing routine tasks.

Service Projects

Service projects support request-based work. They often include request types, queues, service-level targets, approvals, and customer-facing portals.

Use this structure when people submit requests to a team. For example, an employee might request equipment through a portal, while the operations team manages assignment and completion internally.

Configure the Project After Creation

Once the project is created, focus on the settings that affect daily work. You do not need to customize every available option on the first day.

Build a Practical Workflow

A workflow shows how an issue moves from creation to completion. Begin with the real steps your team follows, then reflect those steps in Jira.

A simple workflow might include:

• To Do
• In Progress
• Waiting for Review
• Done

Add a status only when it answers a useful question. “Waiting for Review” can reveal blocked work. “Almost Finished” usually creates uncertainty because different people interpret it differently.

Review Issue Types

Issue types help separate different kinds of work. Common examples include tasks, bugs, stories, epics, requests, and incidents.

Use types that your team can understand immediately. If everyone treats a story and task the same way, having both may create unnecessary choices.

For example, a product team might use epics for large outcomes, stories for customer-facing work, tasks for internal actions, and bugs for defects.

Set Priorities Carefully

Priorities should help your team make decisions. A short scale such as Highest, High, Medium, Low, and Lowest can work well when each level has a clear meaning.

Define the difference in practical terms. A Highest priority issue may block a customer transaction. A Low priority issue may improve convenience without affecting current delivery.

Customize Useful Fields

Fields capture information that helps people understand, assign, filter, or complete work. Useful fields may include target date, business owner, affected area, approval status, or customer impact.

Every extra field adds effort. If a field does not support a decision, report, or handoff, leave it out.

Configure Notifications

Notifications should keep the right people informed without creating constant interruptions. Review events such as issue creation, assignment, status changes, mentions, and comments.

A project that sends every update to every participant can quickly become noisy. Use role-based notifications where possible, so owners receive action-related updates and observers receive progress summaries.

Organize Boards, Backlogs, and Reports

Your project becomes useful when the team can see what needs attention. Boards, backlogs, and reports should reflect the work rather than reproduce every detail of your process.

Design Clear Board Columns

Each column should represent a meaningful stage. If two columns look similar, ask whether the difference changes what someone should do next.

For example, “In Progress” means someone is actively working. “Blocked” means progress cannot continue without a decision, response, or dependency.

Use Swimlanes with Purpose

Swimlanes can separate work by priority, assignee, epic, or another useful category. They are helpful when a board contains different work streams.

A support team might use swimlanes for urgent incidents and standard requests. A product team may separate work by epic during a release cycle.

Keep the Backlog Healthy

A backlog should help your team decide what to do next. Remove duplicate issues, clarify vague titles, close abandoned work, and rank the remaining items.

For example, replace “Improve performance” with “Reduce checkout page load time below three seconds.” The second issue gives the team a clearer outcome.

Use Reports for Decisions

Jira reports become valuable when they answer recurring questions. You might track sprint progress, completed work, cycle time, created versus resolved issues, or workload by assignee.

A report should lead to an action. If cycle time rises for three weeks, investigate review delays, unclear requirements, or excessive work in progress.

Use ONES.com Alongside Jira When You Need Broader Work Management

Jira is strong for issue tracking, software delivery, agile planning, and structured workflows. Some teams also need broader work management across departments, projects, forms, approvals, and operational planning.

ONES.com can support those wider workflows when a team wants a more unified workspace. You can evaluate it alongside Jira when work extends beyond engineering tickets and sprint planning.

Capabilities to Evaluate in ONES.com

• Project planning: Organize initiatives, milestones, ownership, and delivery timelines.
• Task management: Assign work, set deadlines, track progress, and manage priorities.
• Workflow configuration: Adapt stages and approvals to different team processes.
• Team collaboration: Keep discussions, updates, and responsibilities connected to active work.
• Cross-team visibility: Give departments a shared view of progress and dependencies.
• Reporting: Review status, workload, timelines, and delivery trends.
• Permission management: Control access according to teams, roles, or projects.
• Custom views: Present work in formats that match planning, execution, or leadership reviews.

For example, an engineering team may use Jira for sprint delivery while a business operations team uses ONES.com for campaign planning and approval coordination.

Compare the platforms around your actual workflow. Consider setup effort, reporting needs, team adoption, permission requirements, and the amount of work that exists outside software development.

Common Mistakes When Setting Up a Jira Project

Creating Too Many Custom Fields

Problem: The team sees a long creation screen and skips important details because every request feels difficult to enter.

Solution: Keep required fields limited to information needed for ownership, prioritization, execution, and completion. Add optional fields only when they serve a clear purpose.

Choosing a Template by Name Alone

Problem: A team chooses Scrum because it sounds structured, although work arrives continuously and rarely fits sprint planning.

Solution: Watch how work actually enters and leaves the team. Choose Kanban for continuous flow, Scrum for sprint-based planning, and task templates for general coordination.

Using Vague Issue Titles

Problem: Titles such as “Fix report” or “Update page” make searching and prioritization difficult.

Solution: Describe the action and outcome. “Correct missing totals in the monthly sales report” gives the owner a clear starting point.

Giving Everyone Administrative Access

Problem: Several people change workflows, permissions, or fields without coordination.

Solution: Give administration rights to a small group. Gather team feedback through comments, meetings, or planned configuration reviews.

Failing to Test the Workflow

Problem: The team discovers after launch that issues cannot move into review, approvals are unclear, or completed work remains visible on the active board.

Solution: Create a realistic test issue and move it through every important transition. Check the board, notifications, permissions, and reports before launch.

FAQs

Can anyone create a Jira project?

No. Jira administrators control project creation permissions, although some organizations allow selected people to create team-managed projects. If you cannot see the project creation option, contact your Jira administrator. Explain the project purpose, proposed name, team members, template, and access requirements so the request can be handled efficiently.

What should I name my Jira project?

Choose a clear name that identifies the team, service, product, or business goal. “Customer Support Improvements” is easier to understand than “Initiative 2.” Keep the project key short and recognizable. Avoid names that may become inaccurate after a minor change in scope.

Should I choose a Scrum or Kanban project?

Choose Scrum when your team plans work in fixed sprints and reviews progress at regular intervals. Choose Kanban when work arrives continuously and priorities can change throughout the week. A software release team may use Scrum, while an internal support team may work better with Kanban.

What is the difference between team-managed and company-managed projects?

Team-managed projects give a project team more local control over configuration. Company-managed projects support centralized administration and shared standards. Team-managed works well for independent teams. Company-managed is often better when several projects need consistent workflows, permissions, fields, or reporting.

Can I change a Jira project after creating it?

Yes. You can usually update the name, description, lead, access settings, workflow, board configuration, issue types, and notifications. Make changes carefully when the project already contains active work. A workflow change can affect existing issues, reports, automation, and team habits.

How do I keep a new Jira project simple?

Start with a small number of statuses, issue types, fields, and notifications. Create one realistic issue and test the complete workflow. Ask the team which information helps them act or make decisions. Add configuration gradually when a recurring problem justifies it.

Conclusion

Creating a new Jira project involves more than choosing a name and clicking a button. You need the right template, project model, access settings, workflow, issue types, and reporting views.

Start by matching Jira to the way your team works. Then create a realistic test issue, check every important transition, and explain the working rules before inviting everyone.

But here's the truth: a simple project that people use consistently is more valuable than a highly customized project that creates friction. If your work extends across departments and needs broader planning, compare Jira with platforms such as ONES.com.

Define the workflow first, configure only what supports that workflow, and improve the project through regular feedback. That approach gives your team a clearer place to plan, track, and complete work.