We'd like to use JIRA's time tracking features, but we find that they are quite dettached from the general workflow, so it's hard to force users to use them properly.

If users (developers) are not force to use it properly (log work, put estimates) then mistakes are easy to make, and the whole results are wrong (managers unhappy). Trying to force users to use the system properly through handbooks and other rules not enforced by the system becomes a burden to engineers (engineers unhappy).

Integrating a couple of restrictions and rules in the system, nothing very complex would make things much better.

For example, I've found a couple of already logged requests (JRA-1993, JRA-1744, JRA-868...) that seem quite reasonable to me, and would make things easier for users

• Force people to log work when resolving issues - at least present them with the dialog
• When resolving an issue, reset the "time left" field to 0

I also logged :

• JRA-3009 : Track time on tasks&subtasks
• JRA-3010 : Restriction on who/when work can be logged

Solving all these issues would make time tracking features in JIRA much more attractive, since they would be less of a burden for the developer (less room for mistakes), and much more reliable for managers.

My $.02