Total original estimate of blocking work items

Configuration

Create a Custom smart number field and use the General parsing mode.

Expression

%{sum(append(fieldValue({issue.originalEstimate},linkedIssues("is blocked by")),[0]))
/60} 

If the resulting number from the expression contains too many decimal numbers, feel free to select one of the available display formats or to configure it manually.

Display as

Number

Formatting style

Default (unformatted)

Used parser functions

• sum()

• append()

• fieldValue()

• linkedIssues()

Details

1. What does the expression do?

This expression calculates the total original time estimate (in hours) for all work items that are blocking the current work item. In other words, it sums up the original estimates of all work items linked to the current one with the “is blocked by” link type and converts the total from minutes to hours.

2. Step-by-step breakdown

Let’s break it down:

• linkedIssues("is blocked by"): Finds all work items that are linked to the current work item with the “is blocked by” relationship. These are the work items that are blocking the current one.

• fieldValue({issue.originalEstimate}, ...): For each of those blocking work items, this retrieves their “original estimate” value (the initial time estimate set for each work item).

• append(..., [0]): Adds a zero to the list of original estimates. This ensures that if there are no blocking work items, the list isn’t empty, which prevents errors in the next step.

• sum(...): Adds up all the original estimate values (including the zero if there were no blocking work items).

• /60: Divides the total by 60 to convert the sum from minutes (the default unit for original estimates in Jira) to hours.

3. Examples

• If the current work item is blocked by two other work items, one with an original estimate of 120 minutes and another with 60 minutes, the calculation would be:

  • (120 + 60) / 60 = 3 hours

• If there are no blocking work items, the result is:

  • (0) / 60 = 0 hours

4. Real-life use cases

• A project manager wants to see how much estimated work is still pending before a particular work item can proceed. By using this field, they can quickly view the total estimated time required for all blocking work items.

• During sprint planning, a team can use this value to assess dependencies and better understand how much work is “in the way” of a key deliverable.

• Reporting: This field can be used in dashboards or reports to highlight bottlenecks or to prioritize work items that are blocked by a large amount of estimated work.