Ultimate guide to Jira request management

Let’s face it: service requests can be overwhelming. Luckily, Jira Service Management features offer the relief your team craves and capabilities to make your customers happy.

In this guide, you will learn Jira request management essentials and best practices to create seamless service experiences. Build a friendly portal where your end users can submit requests without hassle and get support quickly.

In the Jira Service Management environment, service requests are the tickets submitted by your internal or external customers through a customized service desk. Submitted requests become issues that are tracked in your service management project. They are automatically triaged into queues for agents to fulfill.

Unlike Jira incident management, requests are low-risk and refer to planned, non-alarming events.  Here are some examples of service requests:

Let’s clarify these terms with the example: ‘I need a new laptop.’

A customer sent this message via the help desk asking for something that needs to be provided. For the customer it is a request, whereas the service team receives it as an issue.

In Jira Service Management issues are internal tasks for admin and agents. They represent not only service requests but also incidents, changes, and problems. So, issue and request refer to the same thing, but the perspective is different.

Jira request management is a system within Jira Service Management that helps organizations manage and fulfill service requests. JSM can be easily configured and adapted to the specific needs of a given organization.

Service request management projects come with easy-to-edit request types and workflows.

If you already know how to set up Jira Service Management, it’s time to list its main features that facilitate request management. 

Working with Jira request management makes agents’ work easier and improves team efficiency. For an organization, it offers several business benefits such as:

Let’s look at an exemplary request management process:

To speed up the process, especially for a large number of requests, implement the Shift-left approach used in system and software testing. This approach, supported by the JSM environment, aims to resolve requests early and efficiently by empowering customers with self-service options and automating routine tasks.

For instance, you can implement a knowledge base where customers will find answers to the most common questions. Another idea is to use chatbots to handle simple requests before involving the human agent. 

Time for practice. I’ll show you how to create a service project, configure request types, and create a customer portal with a user-friendly requests view.

Atlassian offers multiple Jira Service Management templates tailored to specific teams or uses that admins can choose when creating a project. Templates include pre-configured request types, workflows, and automation features. 

For example, teams needing to support external customers might choose the Customer Service Management template.

Here is step by step instruction on how to create your first customer project in JSM.

Request types are the requests your customers can submit via the customer portal. They pop up as options, allowing customers to easily ask for the help they need.

For the support team, request types define and categorize incoming requests. 

The project template you choose includes several pre-configured request types. However, you can customize and create new request types to suit your needs.

In Jira Service Management, request types and issue types serve different purposes and audiences but they are interconnected.

One issue type can cover many different request types. For example, the Support issue type can cover Licensing and Billing questions, Product Trial questions, and Technical Support. Each request type, however, can only be linked to one issue type at a time.

Service teams receive a wide range of customer requests. Designing your portal, group request types and name them using friendly, plain language. It helps non-tech-savvy customers describe and label their requests specifically. As a result, the service team can manage requests more efficiently and find solutions faster.

Creating a new request type in Jira Service Management Cloud is intuitive and involves several steps. You can do this in two ways. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

You can create a new request from scratch, tailored to your project’s needs, or use Jira templates. Let’s start with creating a new request type from scratch.

Jira admins can quickly create a new request picking one from an extensive library of templates designed for different teams and use cases. This is a great starting point. 

Request templates save time and effort while ensuring consistency across your service projects.

In a template, you can customize the title and description.

Request participants in Jira Service Management are people with whom agents or customers have shared a request. They can view, comment on, and receive notifications about the request (they can opt out of notifications anytime).

You can add your supervisors as participants to keep them updated on progress or a team member to provide additional information to the request. 

To add request participants, use the designated field in the issue view. This way, they stay informed and can contribute as needed.

Workflows are essential for request management because they outline the steps a request takes and assign responsibilities. With clearly defined stages and transitions, they ensure consistency and improve team efficiency.

In your project, you can standardize the request fulfillment process by choosing or customizing one of two default workflow templates for Jira Service Management:

Each project template has its own predefined workflows, but you can configure them as needed. To configure workflows for request lifecycles in Jira Service Management:

The customer portal is created automatically when you start a new service project in Jira Service Management Cloud. Once everything is set up, make your portal live by sharing the portal URL with your customers. 

Let’s start. Follow these steps. 

In this section, you will see the portal URL and can set an introductory message your customers see when entering the portal. Then add your branding. Also, you can set channel access and configure how portal announcements are displayed.

You can set permissions to define who can access and send requests to your service project through your portal. There are four main levels of access you can give your customers: 

Let’s test the fourth option which allows anyone to access your portal without having an account on your site. The account will be created automatically when the user submits a request.

Portal groups in Jira Service Management are categories that organize different request types. They help users quickly find the right request type and streamline request management for your service team.

Here’s how to organize request types in a company-managed project:

You’ve already completed most of the basic steps as a Jira ticketing system administrator. You’ve created a customer portal, set request types, and configured workflows. Now, it’s time to find out what requests look like from the customer’s perspective. Explore available tools to amplify their experience.

Put yourself in the customers’ shoes and check what they see in native Jira when they submit a request.

After submitting a request, the ‘My Requests’ view shows fields such as:

The default view provides basic filters. As it shows, customers cannot see for example how long they have to wait for their request to be resolved. Besides, there’s no Priority column.

For customers who have submitted a large number of requests across different Service Desks the native options may need enhancement. In such cases, an app like My Request Extension for JSM comes in handy.

My Request Extension extends Jira Service Management capabilities to boost usability, flexibility and security options for request list in customer view. The application is user-friendly and initiative for all users. Jira administrators gain full control over the view and permissions with just a click of a button.

Using the MRE app, Jira admins control which fields users can add as columns and which ones show by default, like Priority or Assignee. Additionally, they can control field visibility based on user groups to protect sensitive information, such as budget details.

Jira admins can also rename fields for clearer descriptions and preview the customer view using the ‘View as…’ feature. This feature is designed to enhance the customer experience in request management.

To sum up two options of My Requests view, here is a short comparison:

With the flexible capabilities of the Jira Service Management system, you can create customer-oriented request management that also minimizes ticket chaos for your team.

Getting started with your first service project, rely on simple and common request types. This way your team will catch the wave and provide value for customers fast. Be empathic and always keep the customer experience in mind. Moreover, promote self-serve when possible and empower customers to customize their requests view. And finally – review and improve. Request management is a continuous learning process. Good luck!