Here’s why Atlassian is standing by their WFH philosophy despite corporate America’s RTO push

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.

In the process of transforming into a distributed workforce, Atlassian focused on a data-driven approach. The company created Team Anywhere within its people department, which includes the Teamwork Lab, a group of behavioral scientists conducting research to solve problems and innovate how work gets done for both clients and the company itself. Prabhakar says there are four key components to Atlassian’s remote-first working model. The first is asynchronous communication, in which teams favor written communication—not meetings—for collaboration. The second is “open by default,” meaning that all documents or written materials should be available to everyone. Third is connection, which Prabhakar acknowledges was one of the company’s biggest struggles; Atlassian holds Intentional Together Gatherings, or ITGs, at which teams congregate in person a few times a year. The fourth and final pillar to consider is timezone awareness: making sure that there is at least some time-zone overlap among employees who are working together.

“The early-in-career cohort love coming into the office. They like the interaction.”

Avani Prabhakar, Chief People Officer, Atlassian

Atlassian has been operating a fully distributed work model for about four and a half years, and recent data shows overwhelmingly positive results with staff. Approximately 92% of employees report that the Team Anywhere policy allows them to do their best work. Similarly, 91% of employees say that flexibility is one of the primary reasons they stay at the company.

It’s not just employee satisfaction that has increased with a distributed work model—recruitment has also improved. Atlassian’s workforce has tripled in size during the time that its flexible work policy has been in place, and the number of candidates who apply for open roles has more than doubled, according to the company. The rate at which candidates accept job offers has increased as well, to 20%, since the company implemented distributed work.

Prabhakar acknowledges that while work does not have to revolve around the office, there are certain employee demographics that particularly value the in-person environment, and says company leadership should take them into account. “The early-in-career cohort love coming into the office. They like the interaction,” Prabhakar says. “So you have to make sure your office still caters to Gen Z.”

And while Atlassian’s Team Anywhere approach has been a success so far, that doesn’t mean that the company has it all figured out. Prabhakar cautions other companies interested in experimenting with new work models to resist declaring victory and remain engaged with the process.

There’s a list of challenges which are real, and you don’t want to go in and say, ‘Hey, we made it. I’m telling you, this is the way to go,’” Prabhakar says. “I just want them to know that this is a learning process, and we are on the journey.”

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