Running a pilot

A pilot is the fastest way to build a case for Linear.

This page walks you through the process from team selection to presenting your results.

The pilot process

1. Pick your teams

Choose teams that carry influence in the wider organisation and feel the friction of your current setup most acutely. Good signals include teams that track work outside their project tracker (in spreadsheets, Slack, or docs), teams where engineers rarely open the tool unprompted, or teams that have already expressed interest in trying something new. They’ll be the most motivated participants and the most credible advocates when it’s time to present results.

For more inspiration, try searching your Slack instance for the keyword “Linear.” People often express interest in trying it alongside the challenges they face in their current workflow.

2. Run a baseline survey

Before your pilot teams touch Linear, capture how they feel about your current setup. This gives you a baseline to measure against and surfaces the specific pain points Linear needs to address.

Here are suggested survey questions, tested by dozens of organizations running Linear pilots.

Adoption and engagement

These questions establish how engaged your teams actually are with your current system.

How frequently do you open and use our issue tracking system?
What percent of your work is tracked in the system?

Ease of use

These questions surface where your current system creates friction in everyday work.

On a scale of 1 – 5 (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree):
I find it easy to create and update issues
I can share the status of my work with colleagues quickly
Triaging new issues in our backlog is straightforward
I can organise and find related work without effort

Productivity

These questions help measure whether your current system is adding to your team’s output or quietly draining it.

On a scale of 1 – 5 (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree):
I spend more time doing my core work than updating and managing tickets
I can go from idea or bug to tracked issue quickly, without navigating multiple steps or screens
Administrative work (updating statuses, tagging, triaging) takes up a small part of my day
My workflow tools help me stay focused rather than pulling me out of flow

Visibility

These questions surface how well your current system connects individual work to the bigger picture.

On a scale of 1 – 5 (1 = Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree):
I can see what my team is working on right now without asking anyone
I understand how my work connects to our team’s goals and broader company priorities
I can quickly find out the status of a project or initiative without digging through multiple views
I can see how my colleagues are using AI coding tools in their work

3. Set up Linear

Some teams start fresh, kicking off a new project directly in Linear. Others prefer to import or sync their existing issues so they can finish a cycle in Linear without losing context. Both approaches work well.

If you want to run both tools in parallel, Linear offers two-way sync with Jira and GitHub Issues. If you’d rather bring everything across, follow our import guide. Any mappings you create during setup lay the foundation for a full migration after the pilot, so the work here pays forward.

If you need help with setup, contact our Customer Team.

4. Run the pilot

Give your teams four to six weeks, enough time to work through at least one full cycle. Encourage them to use Linear as their primary system during this period rather than splitting their attention between tools.

5. Run the post-pilot survey

Send the same survey from step 2, this time focused on the Linear experience. Request responses by a specific date, at least a week before you plan to present to leadership, so you have time to compile the results.

6. Present your case

Leaders rarely have time to sift through anecdotes. Pull out four or five of the most telling quantitative comparisons between your baseline and post-pilot surveys and put them side by side. Pair each metric with a quote from a pilot participant to bring the numbers to life.

Your data tells the internal story, these tell the external one.

Opendoor
OpendoorMoved from Jira to rebuild their product culture
Automattic
AutomatticMigrated from Jira to unify its product teams
Oscar Health
Oscar HealthMigrated 600 engineers from Jira in a month

What to do next

Once you have buy-in, you’re ready to move. Our migration guide covers everything you need for a smooth transition.

  • Read the migration guide
    • A functional guide on how to migrate work to Linear
    →

    Resources

    Talk to our teamRequest a demo, or get help with your migration
    →
    PricingFind the right plan for your team
    →
    SecurityBest-in-class security practices
    →
    Pitch guideConvince the rest of your team
    →
    Pilot guideEverything you need for a successful pilot
    →
    Migration guideInstructions for a seamless transition
    →
    Jira SyncKeep work in sync with Jira
    →
    GitHub Issues SyncKeep work in sync with GitHub Issues
    →

    FAQ

    Linear offers three pricing tiers (Basic, Business, Enterprise) tailored to the needs of your team. For detailed information about each plan, visit our Pricing page or get in touch with our Sales team.

    Yes, we offer white glove onboarding and migration assistance for enterprise customers as well as ongoing priority support and account management. Get in touch with our Sales team to learn more.

    If you’re stuck in an annual contract, please reach out to our team with a copy of your current contract.

    Linear is built with enterprise-grade security practices to keep your work safe and secure at every layer. This includes state-of-the-art encryption, safe and reliable infrastructure partners, and independently verified security controls. Linear is SOC2 and HIPAA compliant and committed to compliance with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can learn more about Linear’s security features here.

    Linear is natively integrated with all major tools that teams use in their day-to-day workflows, ranging from engineering (GitHub, GitLab, Sentry) and design tools (Figma) to customer support systems (Intercom, Front, Zendesk) and communication platforms (Slack, Discord).

    Additionally, there are hundreds of third-party integrations. You can also build your own apps and integrations with the Linear API.