How Atlassian Uses Behavioural Science and Data to Power Distributed Work (an Interview with Annie Dean)

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Apr 8, 2025

Annie Dean, Vice President of Workplace and Future of Work Transformation at Atlassian, shares insights from their journey as a distributed company. She discusses how behavioral science and AI are reshaping workplace dynamics, revealing that AI power users save up to 7 hours a week. The conversation highlights the benefits of asynchronous collaboration for productivity and well-being, alongside lessons learned from five years of flexible work. Dean also provides strategies for integrating AI into team workflows and emphasizes the need for data-driven flexibility in HR.

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ANECDOTE

Email Fail

Annie Dean sent an email to 20 people at Atlassian, outlining a question and suggesting a call time, but received no response.
A teammate later informed her that email wasn't used at Atlassian, and they preferred asynchronous communication through platforms like Confluence.

ADVICE

Optimize Synchronous Time

Prioritize synchronous time by making meetings more valuable and leveraging asynchronous tools.
Use Loom for quick video messages, replace status update meetings with AI, and utilize page-led meetings with Confluence.

ADVICE

Asynchronous Work Practices

Create clear goals, have fewer, better meetings, communicate effectively through writing, and make information digitally accessible.
Use smart brevity for concise communication and ensure all information is available online for AI access.

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What does it really take to make flexible work succeed - at scale and over time?

In this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, host David Green sits down with Annie Dean, Vice President of Workplace and Future of Work Transformation at Atlassian, to explore how one of the world’s leading tech firms is boldly reimagining work for the long term.

Sharing insights from Atlassian’s five-year journey as a fully distributed company, Annie unpacks how her team is using behavioural science, asynchronous collaboration, and AI to design a more human-centric and productive way of working.

Join them as they discuss:

The biggest lessons Atlassian has learned from five years of distributed work
Why they built an internal behavioural science function, and how it drives their work design
How asynchronous collaboration is redefining productivity and employee well-being
How AI power users are saving up to 7 hours a week - and how Atlassian is enabling that shift
Proven strategies to integrate AI into distributed team workflows
Guidance for HR and people analytics leaders defending flexibility with data
A sneak peek into upcoming research from Atlassian’s Teamwork Lab

Whether you’re refining your flexible work strategy or looking to future-proof your organisation’s operating model, this episode, sponsored by Worklytics, is packed with practical ideas and forward-thinking insights.

Worklytics helps leaders understand how work actually happens with data-driven insights into collaboration, productivity, and AI adoption.

By analysing real work patterns - from meetings to tool usage - they empower teams to work smarter, not harder.

And here’s something special: Worklytics is offering Digital HR Leaders listeners a complimentary AI adoption assessment to understand how your teams are really using AI - and where untapped potential lies. But don’t wait - spots are limited.

Learn more at worklytics.co/ai

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