How to make SLA that has a new assignee every 4 hours if task is not started.
Asked by Ben Larson:

Hi All,

Scenario is that John will get assigned the ticket when created. If he does not start the ticket within 4 hours I want the ticket to automatically route to Jenny for 4 hours and so on.

can this be done with SLA or am I need an automation rule. Any help with resolving the above?

For Jira service management


Answers:
author: Anas Ibrahim
body: To create an SLA (Service Level Agreement) that assigns a new assignee every 4 hours if a task is not started, you will need to set up automation rules within a task management system like Jira. Here's a general approach to achieve this, leveraging Jira's automation capabilities:

Create SLA Rules:  
Define your SLA within Jira Service Management. For example, create an SLA that tracks the time until a task is started.  
Set Up Automation Rules:  
Use Jira's automation rules to check if the task has not been started within the SLA timeframe.  
Create an automation rule to assign the task to a new assignee every 4 hours until the task is started.  
Here is an example of how you can set it up in Jira:

Step-by-Step Guide:  
Define the SLA:

Go to Jira Service Management project settings.  
Navigate to the SLAs section and create a new SLA (e.g., "Time to Start Work").  
Configure the SLA to start when an issue is created and stop when the issue transitions from the "To Do" status to "In Progress."  
Set Up Automation Rules:

Go to Project Settings \> Automation.  
Click on Create Rule.  
Trigger:

Set the trigger to "SLA Time Remaining" and configure it to trigger when 4 hours are remaining.  
Condition:

Add a condition to check if the issue is still in the "To Do" status.  
Action:

Add an action to change the assignee. You might want to rotate through a specific group of users.  
Optionally, set the action to notify the new assignee via email.  
Configure the Rotation:

If rotating through multiple assignees, you might need to create multiple rules or use a custom field to manage the rotation logic.  
For example, use a custom field "Assign Count" to keep track of the number of reassignments and control the rotation.  
Example Automation Rule:  
Trigger: "SLA Time Remaining"

SLA: "Time to Start Work"  
Time remaining: 4 hours  
Condition: "Issue Matches"

Status = "To Do"  
Action: "Edit Issue"

Assignee = (next user in rotation)  
Action: "Edit Issue"

Increment or update the "Assign Count" field to manage rotation logic.  
Important Notes:  
Ensure that you have the automation rules enabled and proper permissions are set for the automation to change the assignee.  
Test the rules in a sandbox environment before applying them to the production environment to ensure they work as expected.  
This setup will ensure that every 4 hours, the task will be reassigned to a new user if it hasn't been started, thus adhering to the defined SLA.

comments: author: Ben Larson
body: Thanks for the reply very helpful.

I took a different route, will see how it works out. Waiting for the test results.


author: Vitaly_Berezovsky_SaaSJet
body: Hi [@Ben Larson](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5334622)

I can propose you our addon [SLA Time and Report](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1220741?utm_source=Atlassian_Community&utm_medium=refferal&utm_campaign=Comment_How-to-make-SLA-that-has-a-new-assignee-every-4-hours-if-task-is_20240613) for Jira.

You can configure the SLA so that the task is automatically transferred to another person in case of delay:

![111.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/329658i0270379E013FA96B/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "111.png")


Tags: cloud

jira-service-management

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