How to Maximize Linear: Practical Tips and Best Practices for Project Management

Linear is a project management tool known for its speed, efficiency, and user experience, especially suitable for teams that value iteration speed and refined collaboration. It is renowned for its keyboard-friendly operation, clean interface, and powerful automation processes. This article will delve into how to maximize Linear, covering a range of practical tips and best practices to help you and your team improve project management efficiency.

1. Getting Started Quickly: Core Concepts of Linear

Before diving into the tips, we need to understand some of Linear's core concepts:

• Issues: The smallest unit of work in a project, representing a task that needs to be completed.
• Projects: A group of related Issues used to organize and track specific goals or features.
• Cycles: Short-term iteration cycles, usually 1-3 weeks, used to plan and execute work. Linear encourages a small, fast-paced development model.
• Teams: A group of members working together to complete projects.
• Labels: Used to categorize and tag Issues, such as "bug", "feature", "documentation".
• States: The lifecycle stages of Issues, such as "To Do", "In Progress", "Done".
• Views: Customizable lists of Issues that can be filtered and sorted based on different criteria.

Understanding these concepts is the foundation for using Linear efficiently.

2. Master Keyboard Shortcuts: Improve Operational Efficiency

One of Linear's design philosophies is keyboard priority. Mastering common keyboard shortcuts can greatly improve operational efficiency and avoid frequent use of the mouse. Here are some essential shortcuts:

• c: Create a new Issue
• g + d: Go to Dashboard
• g + i: Go to Inbox
• g + m: Go to My Issues
• g + p: Go to Projects
• g + t: Go to Teams
• /: Search
• ?: Show all shortcuts

Take the time to memorize these shortcuts, and you will find that your operating speed in Linear increases significantly.

3. Build Efficient Cycles: Planning and Iteration

Cycles are the core organizational unit of Linear, encouraging short-cycle iterations. Here are some suggestions for building efficient Cycles:

• Set clear goals: Each Cycle should revolve around one or more clear goals. For example, "Complete the user authentication module", "Fix all high-priority bugs".
• Limit Cycle length: Ideally, the length of a Cycle should be between 1-3 weeks. Short cycles allow for faster feedback and more flexible adjustments to the plan.
• Break down Issues: Break down large Issues into smaller, manageable sub-tasks. This helps to assess workload, track progress, and avoid blocking.
• Estimate workload: Estimate the workload for each Issue, such as using T-Shirt sizing (XS, S, M, L, XL) or Story Points. This helps with Cycle capacity planning.
• Regular review: Conduct a review meeting at the end of the Cycle to summarize lessons learned and improve the process. Discuss what went well, what problems were encountered, and how to do better.

4. Customize Labels and States: Build a Clear Issue Workflow

Linear allows you to customize Labels and States to suit your team's specific workflow.

• Labels Example:
  • bug: Used to mark bug reports.
  • feature: Used to mark new feature development.
  • documentation: Used to mark documentation writing tasks.
  • performance: Used to mark performance optimization tasks.
  • refactor: Used to mark code refactoring tasks.
• States Example:
  • Backlog: The initial state of an Issue, indicating a task that needs to be processed but has not yet been assigned.
  • To Do: A task that has been assigned but not yet started.
  • In Progress: A task that is currently in progress.
  • Review: The code review stage.
  • Blocked: A task that is blocked due to external factors.
  • Done: A task that has been completed.
  • Canceled: A task that has been canceled.

Create custom Labels and States according to your team's actual situation to better track the status of Issues and improve collaboration efficiency.

5. Leverage Views: Personalize Your Workspace

Views allow you to filter and sort Issues based on different criteria, creating personalized workspaces.

• Create a "My Issues" view: Filter all Issues assigned to yourself.
• Create a "High Priority" view: Filter all Issues with high priority.
• Create a "Bug Review" view: Filter all Issues with a status of Review and a label of Bug.
• Create a "Cycle Backlog" view: Filter all Issues not assigned to a Cycle, for planning future Cycles.

By creating custom Views, you can quickly find the information you need and manage your work more efficiently.

6. Automate Workflows: Use Linear's Integration and Automation

Linear provides rich Integration and Automation features to simplify repetitive tasks and improve work efficiency.

• GitHub/GitLab Integration: Integrating Linear with GitHub or GitLab allows you to automatically associate Issues with code commits. When a code commit contains an Issue ID, Linear will automatically update the Issue's status.
• Slack Integration: Integrating Linear with Slack allows you to receive Linear notifications, such as Issue assignments, status updates, etc.
• Zapier/Make Integration: Using Zapier or Make, you can integrate Linear with other applications, such as Google Sheets, Trello, Asana, etc.
• Linear API: Linear provides a powerful API that can be used to create custom Integrations and Automations.

Some common Automation scenarios include:

• Automatically send a Slack notification when an Issue is assigned to someone.
• Automatically update the Issue's status to "Review" when a code commit contains an Issue ID.
• Automatically send an email notification when an Issue's status changes to "Done".

7. Make Full Use of Linear's Markdown Editor

Linear's Issue descriptions and comments support Markdown syntax, which can be used to format text, add links, insert images, and write code snippets.

For example:

# This is a title

This is a paragraph.
```* This is a list item
* This is another list item

[This is a link](https://linear.app)

![This is an image](https://example.com/image.png)

```python
def hello_world():
  print("Hello, world!")

Using Markdown can make your Issue descriptions clearer and easier to understand, and improve communication efficiency.

8. Team Collaboration: Clear Communication and Responsibility Assignment

Linear's design focuses on team collaboration. To take full advantage of Linear's collaboration features, here are some suggestions:

• Clear Issue Description: When creating an Issue, be sure to provide a clear, detailed description, including background information, expected results, and any relevant attachments.
• Clear Responsibility Assignment: Assign each Issue to a specific person in charge to ensure clear responsibility.
• Active Comments: Actively comment on Issues, ask questions, share ideas, and provide feedback.
• Use Reactions: Use Reactions (e.g. 👍, 🎉, 🤔) to quickly express your attitude and avoid lengthy text replies.
• Keep Issue Status Updated: Update the status of Issues in a timely manner to reflect the progress of the work.

9. Issue Hygiene: Keep Workspace Tidy

Over time, Linear may accumulate a large number of Issues. To keep the workspace tidy and efficient, here are some Issue Hygiene suggestions:

• Regularly Archive Completed Issues: Archive Issues with a status of "Done" or "Canceled" to avoid interfering with daily work.
• Clean Up Backlog: Regularly review Issues in the Backlog, delete Issues that are no longer needed, and assign valuable Issues to future Cycles.
• Merge Duplicate Issues: Avoid creating duplicate Issues, and merge them if duplicate Issues are found.
• Update Labels and States: As the team grows, Labels and States may need to be updated. Regularly review Labels and States to ensure they still meet the team's needs.

10. Follow Linear's Changelog

The Linear team is constantly developing new features and improving existing ones. Following Linear's changelog allows you to stay up-to-date on the latest changes and learn how to use new features.

You can follow Linear's changelog in the following ways:

• Visit Linear's official website: linear.app/changelog
• Subscribe to Linear's mailing list
• Follow Linear's Twitter account: @linear

SummaryLinear is a powerful project management tool, but its potential can only be fully realized by fully understanding its core concepts, mastering practical skills, and continuously learning new features. I hope the tips and best practices provided in this article will help you and your team use Linear more efficiently, improve project management efficiency, and ultimately achieve your goals. Remember, continuous improvement and optimization of your workflow is key. Happy Linear usage!