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Helping Teams Work Better, Together: Atlassian’s Team Playbook

Lindsey Duncan
Posted by
Lindsey Duncan
on
May 26, 2025

We were thrilled to welcome Atlassian’s Head of Work Management, Jono Ross, to Perth recently for the first-ever WA Atlassian Community Event. As part of the session, Jono introduced us to how his team is helping all kinds of teams — across every domain — work better together.

For Jono, "Work Management" isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the next era of business success — one where high-performing teams thrive, collaboration is natural, and employees love what they do.

A big part of that mission is Atlassian’s Team Playbook — a library of free, research-backed exercises called Plays that help teams solve real problems and work more effectively together.

What Is the Atlassian Team Playbook?

It’s not theory. It’s practical, proven, and ready to use.

The Playbook is a toolkit of tactical, evidence-based workshops and templates designed to help teams:

✅ Align on goals
✅ Make better decisions
✅ Plan and track work more effectively
✅ Share knowledge and collaborate meaningfully

All of the Plays are backed by research from Atlassian’s Teamwork Lab — a team of PhD-level behavioural scientists and work experts who study what makes great teams tick.

Why Run Plays?

Here’s what the research shows:

  • Improved performance: Teams who run Plays regularly can boost performance by 15–20%
  • Greater collaboration: Teams with clear goals are 4.5x more likely to collaborate effectively
  • More time for real work: Standardised planning frees up 13% more time to focus on impactful tasks

Our Favourite Featured Plays

Here are a few Plays we think every team should try:

  • OKRs (Objective & Key Results) – Set ambitious goals and measure progress
  • DACI Decision-Making – Assign roles for faster, clearer team decisions
  • Trade-offs – Prioritise what really matters when facing constraints
  • Project Poster – Get everyone aligned on what you’re doing and why

Explore all Plays here 👉 https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook

How to Get Started

  1. Find a Play
    Use the Playbook gallery or take the Play recommendation quiz to discover what your team needs most.
  2. Try the Play
    Follow the step-by-step instructions — they’re clear, simple, and adaptable.
  3. Run the Play, Repeat
    Make it part of how your team works and keep building your teamwork muscle.

The System Behind the Playbook

Atlassian’s Team Playbook is part of a broader System of Work — a philosophy that connects business and technology teams through practices that drive innovation and real progress.

Plays are the exercises.
Practices are the behaviours.
Together, they shape how high-impact teams operate.

Let’s Chat

Want to know which Plays could help your team the most?
Chat to our certified Atlassian consultants, Brady or Cheryl — they’ve helped countless teams adopt Atlassian tools and the right ways of working to go with them.

📘 Explore the full Playbook:
👉 https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook