Weekly Wonder: Making the Business Case - Positioning Your CUG as a Strategic Asset

[#1]

Hey all, we have a short, sweet and to-the-point article for you today!

As you know, building a Company User Group in your organization isn’t just about community; instead, it’s a proven strategy for driving adoption, improving governance, and unlocking the full value of Atlassian tools.

By positioning your CUG as a strategic asset, you can secure executive sponsorship, foster cross-team collaboration, and ensure your group is seen as essential to business outcomes.

Here are some quick best-practice tips to make the case for your CUG.

---

1. Connect Your CUG to Business Outcomes

Tip: Clearly link your CUG’s activities to organizational goals such as productivity, collaboration, and digital transformation.

Related Resource: This Adoption and Change Management Guide from our community has info and examples. It highlights how successful adoption hinges on aligning new initiatives with business priorities.

When you show how your CUG supports existing (not new) key outcomes like smoother rollouts, increased tool adoption, or improved employee experience, leadership is more likely to invest in your group.

---

2. Leverage Champions to Scale Adoption

Tip: Build and nurture a network of internal champions who can advocate for Atlassian tools and mentor peers.

Related Resource: This resource highlights how champions act as force multipliers, driving change from within, providing trusted guidance, and helping teams effectively adopt new tools and processes. A strong CUG is the perfect environment to identify and empower these champions.

---

3. Make Training and Enablement Central

Tip: Use your CUG to deliver ongoing training, share best practices, and provide a forum for Q&A.

Related Resource: Atlassian’s Adoption and Change Management Guide also emphasizes that continuous enablement is key to lasting adoption. CUGs can host workshops, demo sessions, and office hours to help users get the most from Atlassian products, reducing support burden and accelerating value realization.

---

4. Measure and Communicate Impact

Tip: Track metrics such as event attendance, active members, and product adoption rates - and don’t forget to share success stories!

Why: Demonstrating tangible results is essential for sustaining executive support. Atlassian recommends defining success metrics and regularly assessing progress. Highlight how your CUG has contributed to increased usage, improved workflows, or reduced friction across teams.

---

5. Integrate with the Broader Atlassian Ecosystem

Tip: Position your CUG as part of Atlassian’s global community, leveraging public resources, forums, and learning opportunities.

Why: By connecting your CUG to Atlassian’s community, you gain access to a wealth of best practices, support, and recognition programs. This not only boosts your group’s credibility but also provides members with additional growth and networking opportunities.

---

When you position your Company User Group as a strategic asset, you don’t just “run meetings” - you build infrastructure for adoption, enablement, and innovation.

By tying your CUG to business outcomes, empowering champions, focusing on enablement, measuring impact, and connecting to the broader Atlassian ecosystem, you’ll make a compelling case for ongoing investment and support.

---

Other 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 Learning – 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)