Megan Cook

Guest: Megan Cook - Head of Product, Jira. Megan has been at Atlassian for nearly 11 years and has a background as an analyst, developer, and agile coach. She leads product management for Jira, a tool used by 75% of Fortune 500 companies. Key Takeaways: Fight Club Meetings: Megan introduced a weekly 30-minute meeting called "Fight Club" with her engineering and design leaders to address conflicts proactively, fostering better relationships and problem-solving. Remote Work Best Practices: Atlassian emphasizes intentional in-person gatherings three times a year to boost productivity and connection by 30%, and uses tools like Atlas for asynchronous updates to minimize meetings. Getting Buy-In: Successful buy-in involves early partnership with stakeholders, maintaining an open mindset focused on solving the core problem, and preparing well-supported data and narratives for decision meetings. Launching New Products: Atlassian uses a stage-gated process (Wonder, Explore, Make, Impact, Scale) to validate and scale new product ideas, ensuring they meet market needs before full investment. Continuous Innovation: Atlassian fosters innovation through hackathons and a culture open to new ideas, allowing small teams to explore emerging technologies and customer needs. Topics Covered: Conflict resolution, remote work strategies, getting executive buy-in, product innovation, scaling new products, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and fostering team play and safety.