Headwater

Jira is where software teams plan and track their work, with work items, backlogs, sprints, and boards. Headwater is where a company keeps its plan: the vision, the pillars and initiatives under it, and the few climbs each team has to finish this quarter. They are for different jobs, and a company can use both.

In Headwater
Launch a trade portal
Win wholesale
22%RP
Build the trade price list
WholesaleOff trackDue December
RP
  • Agree the trade price bands with Maya9 Oct
  • Price the top 40 coffees30 Oct
  • Price the equipment range13 Nov
  • Load the price list into the portal4 Dec
  • Send the price list to every trade account11 Dec
In Jira
Trade portal, sprint 623 work items
  • TP-36Show trade prices without VATDoneIO
  • TP-38Trade account sign-inIn reviewIO
  • TP-41Import the trade price listIn progressKN
  • TP-44Order history pageTo doKN
  • TP-45Reorder from a past orderTo doIO
  • TP-47Invoice totals round the wrong wayTo doKN

Halden’s trade portal is built by two developers, Kasia and Imran. They plan a sprint in Jira every two weeks, and sprint 6 has 23 work items.

The plan for the year is in Headwater. Launch a trade portal is Ravi’s initiative, and Build the trade price list is the Wholesale team’s climb for October to December. The climb has one owner, a few dated milestones, and a status Ravi sets each Monday. This week he set it off track.

Choose a question to see where Halden finds the answer.

  • In Jira
    Sprint 6, 16 to 27 Nov23 work items
    • TP-38Trade account sign-inIn reviewIO
    • TP-41Import the trade price listIn progressKN
    • TP-44Order history pageTo doKN
    • TP-45Reorder from a past orderTo doIO

Each sprint in Jira lasts two weeks. The plan in Headwater has a weekly and a quarterly rhythm, the same for every team.

On Monday, each owner checks in on their climbs in about five minutes. Later in the week, each team meets for an hour in its huddle to go through its climbs and solve its issues. At the end of the quarter, each team closes its climbs and plans the next quarter’s.

Choose a row to see each part.

OctNovTodayDec

Every Monday, each person with a climb checks in on it. They tick the milestones they have finished, say whether the climb is on track, and raise any issues. It takes about five minutes.

Build the trade price listOff trackRP
Price the equipment range13 Nov

Ravi Patel is Halden’s Operations Manager. He owns the initiative Launch a trade portal and this quarter’s climb Build the trade price list. On Monday he checks in on the climb, marks it off track, and talks it through in the Wholesale huddle at 10:00.

On Wednesday, he raises an issue in Headwater because the equipment supplier has not sent its new prices. Everything he does with Kasia and Imran on the portal that week is a work item in Jira.

Mon 16
Headwater9:00
Check in on Build the trade price list
Headwater10:00
Wholesale huddle
Tue 17
Jira
Review TP-41 Import the trade price list
Wed 18
Headwater
Equipment supplier has not sent its new prices
Raised by Ravi
Jira
Test trade sign-in with two cafés
Thu 19
Jira
Answer Kasia’s questions on TP-44
Fri 20
Jira
Write the work items for reordering

  • No. Headwater has no work items, backlogs, sprints, or boards. Developers keep planning their work in Jira, and the company keeps its plan in Headwater.

Details about Jira are from atlassian.com in September 2026. Jira and Atlassian are trademarks of Atlassian. Headwater is not affiliated with Atlassian.

Book a demo and we’ll show you how Headwater would run your week, from the vision down to Monday morning.