JIRA Project Types

JIRA offers two main ways to build a project: team-managed and company-managed. Each type balances freedom against control in a different way. A good choice at the start saves hours of rework later.

Layman's View: Food Stall and Restaurant Chain

A team-managed project works like a food stall. The owner picks the menu, sets the prices, and decides the opening hours alone. A company-managed project works like a restaurant chain. Head office writes one rulebook, and every branch follows it.

TEAM-MANAGED (Food Stall)         COMPANY-MANAGED (Restaurant Chain)

+--------------------+            +------------------------+
|    Project Team    |            |   JIRA Administrator   |
| sets its own rules |            | writes the shared rules|
+--------------------+            +------------------------+
                                     |        |        |
                                  Project A Project B Project C

Team-Managed Projects

Team-managed projects keep every setting inside the project itself. A project admin changes issue types, workflows, and fields without asking a JIRA administrator. Setup takes minutes, which suits small teams that want to start fast.

Settings stay private to the project.
Project admins control the board, workflow, and fields.
Other projects cannot reuse the same configuration.

Company-Managed Projects

Company-managed projects rely on shared schemes. A scheme is a saved set of rules, such as a workflow scheme, an issue type scheme, or a permission scheme. JIRA administrators build each scheme once and attach it to many projects. A change to one scheme updates every project that uses it.

Large companies prefer this model. Reports stay consistent, and every team speaks the same language.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Team-Managed vs Company-Managed Projects

Feature	Team-Managed	Company-Managed
Who controls settings	Project admin	JIRA administrator
Setup speed	Very quick	Slower, needs planning
Sharing configuration	Not possible between projects	One scheme serves many projects
Customization depth	Basic to moderate	Deep and detailed
Best for	Small, independent teams	Large, process-driven organizations
Company-wide reporting	Limited consistency	Strong consistency

Project Templates

Both types start from a template. A template preloads a board, a workflow, and issue types that match a common way of working. Teams adjust the pieces after creation.

Common JIRA Project Templates

Template	Purpose	Good Fit
Scrum	Plan work in fixed-length sprints	Software teams that ship in cycles
Kanban	Move work through a continuous flow	Support and maintenance teams
Bug Tracking	Record and fix defects	Quality assurance groups
Business Project	Track tasks outside software	Marketing, HR, and finance teams

How to Choose

Two questions decide most cases: who owns the project, and whether other teams need matching rules.

Start
  |
  v
Does one team own the project alone?
  |-- Yes --> Team-Managed
  |
  No
  |
  v
Do several teams need the same rules?
  |-- Yes --> Company-Managed
  |
  No --> Either type works. Pick the quicker setup.

Real-World Example

Small Design Studio

A studio with six designers tracks client work in JIRA. Every client project needs the same four steps: Brief, Design, Review, Delivered. The studio owner creates a team-managed project and edits the board in ten minutes. Nobody waits for an administrator.

Software Company with Forty Teams

A software firm runs forty teams that follow one release process. The administrator builds a single workflow scheme with code review and testing stages. Every project attaches to that scheme. Managers compare progress across teams without translating different status names.

Switching Between Types

Moving a project from one type to another can involve extra steps. Issues may need to move into a new project, and some settings may not carry over. Planning the type at the start avoids that effort.

Common Mistakes

Choosing company-managed for a tiny team, which adds paperwork without benefit.
Choosing team-managed for a project that later needs company-wide reports.
Skipping the template choice and building every setting by hand.

Summary

Team-managed projects give speed and local control. Company-managed projects give shared rules and consistent reporting. Templates provide a ready starting point for both. A quick look at team size, ownership, and reporting needs points to the right choice.

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