We're updating our terminology in Jira

'Issue' is changing to 'work item'. You might notice some inconsistencies while this big change takes place.

Create an impact urgency priority matrix

You can manually assign priority levels, create an impact urgency priority matrix, or use Automation to assign priorities for yourself in Jira Service Management. Find out how to create an automation rule to prioritize your incidents.

Here’s an example of an impact and urgency matrix using the priority rating that exist in Jira Service Management. This can be a starting point for creating your own matrix, or you can create a completely new matrix.

Impact

Urgency

 

 

 

 

 

Critical

High

Medium

Low

Lowest

Extensive / Widespread

Highest priority

High priority

Medium priority

Low priority

Lowest priority

Significant / Large

Highest priority

High priority

Medium priority

Low priority

Lowest priority

Moderate / Limited

High priority

Medium priority

Low priority

Low priority

Lowest priority

Minor / Localized

Medium priority

Low priority

Lowest priority

Low priority

Lowest priority

Note that the priority values listed here are just examples. You can also create priorities that are specific to your service project. Read more about defining priority field values.

Configure the workflow

Make sure you have the following two custom fields of the type Select List (single choice), each containing the values listed in the previous table:

  • Urgency: Critical, High, Medium, Low, Lowest

  • Impact: Extensive, Significant, Moderate, Minor 

  1. Go to Settings () > Work items > Workflows.

  2. Find the workflow that is used by your Change work type and select Edit

  3. Between the Create transition and your first status, add a new status and name it Priority Triage

  4. Add the following five transitions from this status:

    1. Highest

    2. High

    3. Medium

    4. Low

    5. Lowest

In each of these transitions, add a post function

  1. Select the Update Work Item Field post function. 

  2. In the post function, update the Priority field to match the transition, for example, the Highest transition will have a post function that changes the Priority field to Highest. Similarly, the High transition will have this post function to set the Priority field as High, and the Medium transition to set the value to Medium, Low transition to Low, and Lowest transition to Lowest. 

  3. Publish the workflow. 

After configuring the workflow, the workflow transitions a change to Priority triage status as soon as an work item is created. You will also have four transitions to set the Priority to a value. 

Check the value of the Urgency and Impact fields, and fire off the corresponding transition according to the matrix by setting up Automation rules.

 

Still need help?

The Atlassian Community is here for you.