Author: Ramona Daub

The highlights:
A new slogan from Atlassian is: “Impossible alone. Possible together.” These words perfectly reflect Atlassian’s vision that shared efforts and collaboration helps us all make the impossible possible. Sherif Mansour, Head of Product at Atlassian, shared some inspiring insights during his presentation. He emphasized the importance of customer-focused AI development and the need to make products more intuitive.

The first day was dominated by the Seibert Partner Info Session, where product updates, interesting panel discussions and inspiring customer cases were presented. Among other things, Mantra was presented for Confluence Cloud, which enables a personalized platform with a modern design for internal communication. Custom dashboards, navigation bars, events, messages and posts can be created to streamline collaboration and enable more effective management.

Particularly noteworthy was the lively discussion about Hosting DC vs. Cloud and Atlassian’s exciting AI roadmap that followed.

On days 2 and 3 we witnessed captivating keynotes and discussions, including “Winning Together / Unlocking Growth with Partner and direct Team Collaboration” and “Be demand ready: strategies for connecting partner value to customer need”. We also had the privilege of meeting with k15t and gaining valuable insights in their products and solutions.

Collaboration and partnership as the basis for good cooperation

Partnership is a key factor for mutual success. In a very good exchange session between the solution partners and the app manufacturers, the common synergies were developed and a basis for successful collaboration was discussed. The aim is to offer customers optimal service and also incorporate their feedback.

Atlassian’s keynote on day three brought exciting new releases such as Loom, Atlassian Guard and Atlassian Rovo.

Loom

Loom, the leading video messaging platform, combines video calls and messaging and offers diverse use cases. Users can record videos to, for e.g., communicate better across time zones, give or request feedback, and discuss and explain projects or designs.

Rovo

Rovo introduces a new interface for comprehensive knowledge management and a unified search experience. Atlassian Intelligence is used to take collaboration between humans and AI to the next level. Rovo also offers a virtual, configurable agent.

Jira

The next era of Jira combines software and work management in one platform. With AI upgrades, it offers an improved user experience. In addition, Jira Product Discovery receives a premium license with additional functionalities.

Atlassian Guard

Atlassian Guard (formerly Atlassian Access) provides threat protection and advanced security for Atlassian Cloud, along with upcoming capabilities in automation and analytics. There are also many other updates, including:

• Advanced admin area linking, Bitbucket, Trello and Loom
• 30+ AI-powered features and optimizations
• Atlassian University becomes free

It was once again an honor to be able to attend this global conference and meet with so many inspiring people from the Atlassian community. We look forward to incorporating what we have learned and heard into our daily work and offering our customers the best possible support.

We would like to thank Atlassian and all participants for this unforgettable experience. Together we are shaping the future of work!

Why is it worth using Atlassian Intelligence?

• save time and resources
• ease of work
• easier creation of strategies
• automatically optimized reports
• improving communication
• channels facilitated content creation
• smart search function

Below we would like to show you a few examples of how AI can already be used. More features and functions will follow in the near future and AI will also be activated in other tools, such as Trello, Bitbucket or Atlassian Analytics.

Squads

Let’s start with squads. These are comparable to a Scrum team and form the basis of the Spotify model. Squads are self-organized agile teams that include all the resources it takes to develop a product or service from start to finish. Of course, each of these teams also has a product owner who is responsible for the backlog and prioritization. In addition, each squad has an agile coach to provide methodological support to the team and organize events such as retrospective or planning.

Tribes

A tribe comprises several squads that work together on a product or service. There is a so-called tribe lead who ensures that the squads can work together in the best possible way. There are regular meetings where the squads can exchange ideas and present their work so that everyone is up to date.

Chapters

A chapter includes employees with the same expertise. These are distributed among the different squads within a tribe. Chapters also have a chapter lead, who organizes regular meetings to enable an exchange among each other.

Guilds

Guilds are gatherings of people with the same skills or interests from different tribes. The so-called guild coordinator takes care that meetings take place where the members of the guilds can exchange information. This has a great advantage for the improvement of the organization.

Summary

To recap: Under the Spotify model, an organization is divided into tribes, which are responsible for developing a product or service. Within a tribe, members with different expertise (squads) are brought together to independently develop a product or service. In addition, members with the same expertise are brought together, both within a tribe (chapters) and across tribes (guilds) for experience sharing and further development.

Unlike what we know from frameworks such as Scrum, there are no practices that must be followed or mandatory meetings that must be held. Squads self-organize how they best get their work done. This can happen through the use of the Scrum framework, Kanban, or other methods.

Likewise, chapters and guilds determine for themselves how they want to best organize their collaboration.

Now you can confidently answer yes to the question if you are familiar with the Spotify model.

Let’s start from the beginning, what is Kanban anyway, and how did it come about?

The inventor of the Toyota production system, Taiichi Ohno, developed Kanban in 1947, and it is an implementation of the control method in production known as the pull principle.

He was inspired by the process of filling shelves in supermarkets. This is because supermarkets stock just enough products to satisfy consumer demand. The stock levels match the consumer habits of the customers. This avoids storing excess goods and occupying space for goods that are needed. It is simple and leads to great efficiency in inventory management.

So, Taiichi Ohno adopted this process in Toyota production. The cycle begins with the delivery of the required materials, including the kanban card, to the consuming location. As soon as the materials have been used up, the kanban card is returned to the responsible supplying point. Here, the production or procurement of the required materials in the specified quantity begins and as soon as this has been achieved, the materials are sent back to the consuming point, including the kanban card. You then have a self-controlling control loop without a central planning instance.

The technology used in this system has of course evolved in recent years, but it still forms the core of what is known as just-in-time production.

How is Kanban applied in software development today?

In principle, the Kanban method can be used in any industry due to its timeless core principles, which are explained in detail below. In the area of software development however, the agile method was particularly successful, because here no expenditures for the conversion are necessary like for example the change of physical processes. All that is needed is a board with cards, which can certainly be mapped virtually.

By the way, the word Kanban comes from Japanese and literally means ‘visual signal.’

It is not without reason that Kanban is one of the most widespread agile management methods alongside Scrum. However, in order for the agile method to work properly, it takes a bit more than just a board and cards.

The Kanban board is of course in the center. It is there to visualize the tasks and to optimize the workflow of the team. A simple Kanban board consists of the three steps To do, Doing, and Done. Depending on the size, structure and goals of a team, the workflow can be extended or adapted accordingly. The Kanban cards map the tasks to be completed, and their progress is transparently mapped on the board. The Kanban cards provide information on the type of task, who is responsible for the task, how long it is estimated to take, etc.

Now that we understand what the principles behind Kanban are, let’s look at the six practices that help us achieve great success with the Kanban method.

1. Make the work visible
   To visualize the work, workflow and risks, the Kanban board is used. The work is represented by the cards on the board, the workflow is described by the columns from left to right, and the risks can often be seen in the detail of the cards, but often also visually, such as too many tickets in the “Doing” column.
2. Limit the work-in-progress (WIP).
   Limiting the WIP means that there is never too much work and never too little, so that exactly the right number of cards can be processed by the available resources. This is achieved through the pull principle, where new work is drawn only when sufficient capacity is available. For this to work, the WIP limit must be set and adjusted.
3. Manage flow
   Flow means the movement of work through the workflow from left to right. The project manager is responsible for ensuring a fast flow while keeping an eye on blockages and risks. The better the flow, the more efficiently the team works.
4. Make process rules explicit
   In order for everyone to be looking in the same direction and for discussions to be rational and objective, guidelines are needed. These need to be documented and shared with everyone.
5. Introduce feedback loops
   Feedback and continuous improvement are crucial in Kanban, as in all other agile frameworks. In the Kanban method, the meeting cadences you have set for yourselves are suitable for this. The only mandatory meeting is the Daily Kanban. Here it is a matter of taking a daily look at the flow and recognizing blockages and obstacles and clearing them out of the way. Other meetings, such as Refinements, Retrospective, Planning, or Review are scheduled as needed.
6. Improve collaboratively, evolve experimentally
   In Kanban, collaboration and experimentation go hand in hand as long as there is clarity and consensus on how to approach work and problems.

So, start right where you are, pay attention to the principles, apply the practices, and tell me about your successes!