Top 10 steps to perform right after you sign up for Jira

How to get started with Jira

If you’re an enterprise customer and you’ve just signed up for Atlassian’s Jira project, you’re probably wondering what steps you should perform next in order to get your installation primed and ready for teams and users.

If that’s the case, here are the first 10 things every Jira administrator should do after signing up for Jira.

1. Define your Jira cloud architecture and access model

2. Set enterprise-wide security and governance

3. Establish naming conventions and project standards

4. Create a project template library

5. Configure Jira software boards properly

6. Integrate with Atlassian Marketplace apps early

7. Design permission schemes and role hierarchies

8. Establish reporting and dashboards early

9. Train core admins and pilot teams

10. Communicate onboarding and support processes

1. Define your Jira cloud architecture and access model

Before creating projects or inviting users, take time to design the overall structure of your Jira environment. Decide whether you will use a single Jira site or multiple sites to support different business units or regions. If your organization uses single sign-on, you should integrate your identity provider such as Okta or Azure Active Directory through Atlassian Access. This ensures that authentication, user provisioning, and account management are handled securely and consistently across the organization.

The benefit of establishing your access model early is that it creates a foundation of control and accountability. Users can be managed through verified domains, and administrators can enforce global policies such as two-factor authentication. Without this structure, you risk creating fragmented access patterns that are difficult to maintain later and can lead to compliance issues or confusion among teams.

2. Set enterprise-wide security and governance

Security and governance are not features to add later. They should be configured before the first project is created. Set policies that define who can create projects, share filters, or manage boards. Enforce multifactor authentication, define password standards, and restrict administrative permissions to only those who truly need them.

By taking a governance-first approach, your Jira environment remains stable and predictable. Permissions remain clear, and audit trails are easier to maintain. Organizations that skip this step often find themselves cleaning up after users have created overlapping workflows, duplicate projects, and insecure configurations that expose sensitive data to unintended audiences.

3. Establish naming conventions and project standards

When teams begin creating projects, the absence of clear naming standards can cause long-term confusion. Define how projects, boards, and schemes should be named and documented. For example, engineering projects might begin with “ENG,” while human resources projects could use “HR.”

These standards make reporting, searching, and governance far easier as the number of projects grows. It also builds familiarity for users navigating across departments. If you fail to establish conventions early, you will likely face inconsistencies that make automation and cross-project visibility more difficult to achieve.

4. Create a project template library

Every department should not have to start from scratch when setting up a Jira project. Create templates that reflect your organization’s preferred ways of working. You can include separate templates for Scrum, Kanban, or service desk models, each with predefined issue types, workflows, and notification schemes.

The benefit of templates is standardization. Teams can quickly launch new projects that already comply with governance policies and Agile practices. Without templates, every new team might configure Jira differently, leading to inefficiency and additional training requirements.

5. Configure Jira software boards properly

Boards are the center of activity for Agile teams. Configure Scrum boards for time-boxed sprints and Kanban boards for continuous delivery. Standardize elements such as swimlanes, quick filters, and work-in-progress limits to keep your teams aligned.

A properly configured board provides visibility into progress and bottlenecks. It helps Scrum Masters and Product Owners manage scope and capacity effectively. Without a consistent approach to board setup, teams can misinterpret workflow states, causing inaccurate reporting and unnecessary friction.

6. Integrate with Atlassian Marketplace apps early

Jira becomes far more powerful when enhanced with apps from the Atlassian Marketplace. However, this power should be controlled. Decide which apps will be approved for organization-wide use and restrict who can install them. Popular integrations include tools for reporting, time tracking, and automation.

Planning integrations early ensures that all teams use the same reliable tools, reducing redundancy and data fragmentation. If you delay these decisions, teams may independently install different apps for the same purpose, creating compatibility problems and potential security vulnerabilities.

7. Design permission schemes and role hierarchies

Permissions determine who can see and do what within Jira. Establish clear permission schemes and project roles such as Admin, Developer, and Viewer, and reuse these configurations across projects. Avoid giving unrestricted administrative access to project owners unless it is necessary.

Well-designed permissions provide balance between control and flexibility. They protect sensitive information while empowering teams to manage their own work. If permissions are inconsistent or overly permissive, your organization risks data leaks, lost accountability, and unauthorized changes to workflows or issues.

8. Establish reporting and dashboards early

Dashboards are vital for measuring progress and communicating results. Create a few standard dashboards that display sprint health, team velocity, and overall project progress. Once you establish a consistent layout, teams can clone these dashboards for their own use.

Early investment in dashboards ensures decision-makers have accurate and comparable data across teams. Without them, reporting becomes fragmented, and stakeholders lose trust in the metrics provided. Strong reporting practices help everyone focus on outcomes rather than assumptions.

9. Train core admins and pilot teams

Before inviting the entire organization, start small. Select a handful of experienced administrators and pilot teams to test your Jira environment. Allow them to explore configurations, identify challenges, and refine workflows.

A pilot phase provides valuable feedback and prevents large-scale mistakes. It helps you fine-tune your templates, permissions, and automations. Skipping this step often leads to confusion among early adopters and may require disruptive reconfiguration after the wider rollout.

10. Communicate onboarding and support processes

Once the system is ready, communicate clearly how your organization will use Jira. Provide documentation, create support channels, and establish a feedback process for improvements. Make sure everyone understands where to find help and how to request changes.

Strong communication ensures smooth onboarding and builds confidence among new users. Without clear guidance, teams will make assumptions and develop inconsistent habits. Over time, this can undermine the benefits of standardization and create additional work for administrators trying to correct mistakes later.

Setting up Jira at an enterprise level is about foresight and structure. By following these ten steps, you create an environment that is scalable, secure, and ready to support Agile success across every department.

Darcy DeClute is a Certified Cloud Practitioner and author of the Scrum Master Certification Guide. Popular both on Udemy and social media, Darcy’s @Scrumtuous account has well over 250K followers on Twitter/X.