Weekly Wonder: Building Your CUG Leadership Bench – Co-Leads, Rotating Hosts, and Volunteers

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As a Company User Group (CUG) leader, you don’t just run meetings - you’re building a community that should be able to thrive even when you’re on vacation, in back-to-back releases, or changing roles.

A strong “leadership bench” is what turns your CUG from a one-person effort into a resilient, shared initiative that can grow and sustain over time.

Building that bench doesn’t have to be complicated or formal. With a few intentional moves - like identifying co-leads, rotating hosting duties, and inviting volunteers into clear, meaningful roles - you can reduce burnout, increase engagement, and create more ownership across your organization.

Below are five practical tips to help you strengthen your CUG leadership bench with co-leads, rotating hosts, and volunteers.

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1. Identify and invite a small group of co-leads

Start by looking for 1–3 people who consistently show interest, ask good questions, or naturally help others during or after CUG sessions. These are often your “quiet champions” who just need a nudge and a clear invitation.

When you approach potential co-leads:

• Be specific about what you’re asking (“help plan topics,” “host every 3rd session,” etc.).

• Emphasize that this is a shared leadership role, not a second full-time job.

• Explain the benefits: visibility with leadership, influence on tooling practices, and an opportunity to develop facilitation and communication skills.

Formalizing a small core leadership group spreads responsibility, strengthens continuity, and gives your CUG more credibility with stakeholders.

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2. Use rotating hosts to share the spotlight and reduce burnout

You don’t need to host every session. In fact, rotating hosts is one of the simplest ways to build your bench and keep things fresh for attendees.

Set up a light-weight hosting rotation:

• Maintain a simple schedule (e.g., “Host A in March, Host B in April, Host C in May”).

• Provide a standard run-of-show (welcome, agenda, housekeeping, Q&A, close).

• Offer a short “host prep” chat or checklist so new hosts feel confident.

Rotating hosts helps:

• Reduce the risk of burnout for the primary CUG lead.

• Give others a chance to practice facilitation and public speaking.

• Bring different voices, perspectives, and styles into your CUG sessions.

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3. Create clear, low-friction volunteer roles

Many people want to help but don’t know how. Instead of asking for “general volunteers,” define a few specific, low-friction roles that take 15–30 minutes per session or per month.

Examples of volunteer roles:

• Note-taker / scribe – Captures key takeaways, links, and decisions.

• Chat moderator – Monitors questions in chat and surfaces them to the host.

• Resource curator – Collects links, templates, and follow-up materials after each session.

• Tech check / producer – Joins early to help test audio, screen sharing, and recording.

When roles are clear and scoped, it becomes much easier for people to raise their hand—and for you to accept help without creating more coordination work.

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4. Make contribution pathways visible and repeatable

If someone attends a CUG session and thinks, “I’d love to present or help next time,” how obvious is their next step? Making contribution pathways visible is key to turning attendees into active contributors and future leaders.

Consider adding:

• A standing slide or closing reminder: “Want to present, co-host, or help run a session? Contact [name/alias] or fill out this short form.”

• A simple topic/volunteer form (e.g., “Propose a session,” “Volunteer to host,” “Help with logistics”).

• A section in your CUG Confluence space that explains the different ways to get involved and what each role entails.

Clear, repeatable pathways transform one-off volunteers into a steady pipeline of future co-leads and hosts.

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5. Recognize, grow, and “graduate” your leaders

People are more likely to stay engaged when they feel seen and when their contribution helps them grow. Treat your CUG as a leadership development platform, not just a meeting series.

Ways to support and recognize your leadership bench:

• Celebrate contributions in sessions and internal channels (e.g., shout-outs for hosts, speakers, and volunteers).

• Offer lightweight coaching on facilitation, storytelling, or tooling topics for those who want to step up.

• Share impact with their managers (e.g., summaries of their contributions or skills they’re demonstrating).

• Periodically “graduate” leaders to new opportunities (e.g., sponsoring a new CUG, leading a specific product track, or representing the CUG in broader governance forums).

By intentionally growing and recognizing your co-leads, rotating hosts, and volunteers, you create a virtuous cycle where leadership capacity and engagement reinforce each other.

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Bringing it all together

A sustainable CUG isn’t built on one person’s energy; it’s built on a shared sense of ownership. By identifying co-leads, rotating hosting duties, defining clear volunteer roles, and making contribution pathways visible, you create a leadership bench that can support your community over the long term.

If your CUG already feels heavily dependent on you, treat this as a chance to experiment. Start small: recruit one co-lead, pilot a rotating host model for the next three sessions, or define just two volunteer roles for your upcoming meeting. As people step into these roles, listen to their feedback, refine responsibilities, and keep evolving your leadership bench based on what works best in your organization.

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Helpful Resources

Here are core resources you can lean on as you build your CUG leadership bench and overall program:

• Atlassian Community – Connect with other leaders, ask questions, and see how others run their groups

• Atlassian University – Training and learning paths you can reference or promote through your CUG to help volunteers and co-leads deepen their Atlassian skills

• Atlassian Team Playbook – Plays you can adapt for leadership development and CUG sessions (e.g., roles & responsibilities, working agreements, retros)