Remote Work

Atlassian goes “Team Anywhere” and shares its secrets for a remote-first working model. By Sara Braun

IN 2020 Atlassian (No. 95), a U.S. software company that specializes in project management tools, implemented a distributed approach to work arrangements that it calls Team Anywhere. The policy allows the company's 12,000 employees to work from wherever it has a legal entity. As long as the time zone is compatible with their role, they have their team leader's blessing, and they have the right to work in the region. That means that instead of being limited to one of Atlassian's 12 global offices, employees now clock in from over 10,000 locations around the world.

Even before the pandemic, Atlassian—whose tools are frequently used by remote workers—was exploring alternative methods to traditional in-office work. “We were always experimenting in this space heavily, because it sits very well with what we do for our customers,” Avani Prabhakar, chief people officer at Atlassian, tells Fortune.

Once COVID hit, the company committed to a fully distributed work model and never looked back. “For us, it was never a thing [where] we will think about return to office one day when things get normal,” Prabhakar adds.