Atlassian’s Capability Pods: The Future of Teamwork and Collaboration

Coming up in today’s edition:

Based on your feedback, there is one small change to the structure of the newsletter.

Each one will now focus on one tactic, system, framework or idea from the world’s most successful teams that you can implement to help improve your own.

It will be brought to life in the following structure:

1. Case Study: Tactic, system or framework from a world-class team/organisation

2. Execution: How you can implement it today with quick wins

3. Reflection: One question to ask yourself or your team to embed the concept

The “best links of the week” are also being brought back by popular demand.

Check them out at the end of this edition, alongside the ultimate benchmark for high-performing teams.

1. ATLASSIAN: THE BLUEPRINT FOR ELITE TEAM COLLABORATION

Founded in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, Atlassian has risen from a modest startup to a global tech powerhouse.

• 300,000 customers (80% of Fortune 500 companies use them)

• $4.4 billion revenue (23% YoY increase in 2024)

• 12,157 employees (13% YoY increase in 2024)

But it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses.

They started to notice a growing problem within their engineering departments.

The teams had the technical abilities but struggled to put them into practice consistently. 

Their solution?

Capability Pods

Atlassian rolled out “capability pods” otherwise known as mini innovation labs, where engineers tackled real-world projects while sharpening their technical habits and workflows.

The key to their success lay in how they structured the learning experience.

Engineers spent dedicated time in these pods, working on actual challenges rather than theoretical exercises.

They paired experienced developers with new starters, creating a natural knowledge transfer.

Each pod comprised 4 to 8 members with diverse expertise including:

• Development

• Design

• QA

• Other relevant skills

Each pod managed their workflows and timelines, creating a sense of ownership and accountability.

Most importantly, they treated each technical decision as a learning opportunity – documenting what they chose to do and why they chose it.

They were assigned clear, singular goals, forcing them to concentrate on distinct parts of the backlog or new product ideas.

A great example of pods that had a real-world impact was the development of Jira Product Discovery.

The pod structure comprised of product managers, designers, and engineers, who collaborated to create Jira Product Discovery - a new offering that enabled Atlassian clients to gather and prioritise ideas during a product development process. 

This approach transformed how teams solved problems and shared solutions.

Spotify: Islands Of Expertise

The music behemoth faced a similar challenge to Atlassian.

Critical knowledge was getting stuck with individual, senior experts in the team.

They referred to them as islands of expertise.

To break down these silos, they also implemented a squad-based organisational model. They held daily technical discussions where teams explored solutions together.

In addition to squads, Spotify introduced guilds and chapters to connect individuals with similar expertise across different teams.

• Guilds = informal communities of interest

• Chapters = more formal groupings within a particular competency

These structures promoted the sharing of best practices and knowledge dissemination throughout the company.

One notable outcome of this collaborative approach is one of my most used product features on Spotify- personalised playlists, such as “Discover Weekly.”

Developing this feature required the combined expertise of data scientists, musicologists, and software engineers.

Through cross-functional collaboration within squads, Spotify was able to create an algorithm that analyses user preferences and curates a unique playlist for each user every week.

This innovation would not have been possible without breaking down expertise silos.

2. HOW YOU CAN IMPLEMENT A POD STRUCTURE

To make learning effective, it must be woven into daily work rather than treated as a separate activity.

The best teams carve out time within their projects to test new ideas, rather than treat it as a separate activity.

Challenges become opportunities to build both technical skills and improved practices, turning problems into collective growth moments.

Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing a Pod System

1. Define the Purpose and Goals

• Action: Clearly articulate what you want the pod system to achieve (e.g., breaking down silos, improving innovation, fostering collaboration).

• Be Careful: Avoid vague objectives. Lack of clarity can lead to misalignment and confusion.

2. Design the Structure

• Action: Organise teams into small, cross-functional pods (4-8 members) that own specific tasks or objectives. Each pod should include diverse expertise.

• Be Careful: Ensure the size of pods allows for agility and efficiency. Too large, and you risk losing focus; too small, and you may lack necessary expertise.

3. Assign Autonomy and Accountability

• Action: Empower pods to make decisions within their scope of work. Provide clear accountability for outcomes.

• Be Careful: Balance autonomy with alignment to company goals. Unchecked autonomy can lead to silos within the pod system itself.

Example Metrics to Track Success:

• Team Efficiency: Time taken to complete projects or iterations.

• Innovation Output: Number of new ideas or features developed.

• Employee Satisfaction: Survey feedback from pod members.

• Knowledge Sharing: Documented learnings and cross-pod contributions.

• Customer Impact: Improvements in product or service quality as perceived by customers.

4. Create a Supportive Ecosystem

• Action: Implement guilds and chapters for knowledge sharing across pods. Guilds focus on shared interests (e.g., engineering practices), while chapters bring together individuals with similar expertise (e.g., front-end developers).

• Be Careful: Don’t let guilds or chapters become bureaucratic. Keep them informal and outcome-oriented.

5. Foster a Culture of Learning and Experimentation

• Action: Treat pods as learning labs where teams experiment, document their findings, and share outcomes. Celebrate successes and learn from failures.

• Be Careful: Avoid penalising mistakes—this stifles innovation. Encourage open discussions about what worked and what didn’t.

6. Provide Tools and Frameworks

• Action: Equip pods with collaborative tools (e.g., Jira, Clickup, Confluence, Slack) and clear processes for documentation, feedback, and reporting.

• Be Careful: Too many tools or rigid processes can overwhelm pods. Keep things simple and user-friendly.

7. Protect Time for Reflection

• Action: Schedule regular retrospectives for pods to reflect on their processes and outcomes, and adjust accordingly.

• Be Careful: Don’t skip retrospectives under pressure. They’re critical for continuous improvement.

8. Align with Leadership and Strategy

• Action: Ensure pod goals align with the company’s overall strategy. Provide regular updates to C-suite/board to maintain buy-in and support.

• Be Careful: Misalignment with leadership can cause the pod system to lose credibility or funding.

9. Monitor and Adjust

• Action: Track the performance of pods using metrics tied to their goals. Continuously iterate on the system based on feedback and results.

• Be Careful: Avoid micromanaging. Trust the process, but stay alert for systemic issues that need addressing.

10. Scale Gradually

• Action: Start small with a few pods, refine the system, and then expand across the organization.

• Be Careful: Scaling too quickly can expose weaknesses in the system. Test and learn before rolling out broadly.

Teams that learn and adapt together, build resilience like no other.

They develop a natural rhythm of improvement, where technical skills and disciplined practices reinforce each other, creating stronger teams and organisations.

Good luck 🤝

3. THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

Teams often have untapped skills and expertise that go unnoticed because people stick to predefined roles or tasks.

This question helps reveal these hidden strengths, enabling the team to make better use of the talent already available.

• Example: An engineer with strong design skills could help streamline workflows, or a marketer with coding expertise could contribute to data analysis.

When people get to use their full range of skills, they feel valued and more engaged in their work.

Identifying untapped expertise makes your team more adaptable. When challenges arise, you’ll have a clearer understanding of who can step in with relevant skills, making the team more resilient.

MY TOP FINDS OF THE WEEK 🏆

For Your Performance

• Sir Alex Ferguson’s speech on what you need to achieve something special in football and life (Watch)

For Your Team

• Detroit Lions are having the NFL season of their life 🏈 This video on their values explains why (Watch)

For Your Health

• Do this one exercise from Hugh Jackson and Ryan Reynolds with one person in your team and watch the magic happen 🥲 (Watch)

IS YOUR TEAM TRULY HIGH-PERFORMING?

Ever wondered how your team would stack up against the best in the world?

Take the test below to find out👇

• It’s free.

• Only takes 2-3 minutes.

• Gives you a personalised report against the 8 core areas of elite team performance.