Community resources
Community resources
Community resources
Weekly Wonder: Partnering with Internal IT and HR to Grow Your CUG Audience
Hi CUG members, welcome to this week’s edition of Weekly Wonder!
Building a thriving Atlassian Company User Group (CUG) isn’t just about great content and charismatic hosts - it’s also about getting the right people in the (virtual or physical) room. Two of your most powerful allies for doing that are teams you already work with every day: Internal IT and HR.
IT controls many of the channels, tools, and governance levers that shape how people experience Atlassian products. HR owns onboarding, learning, and internal communications that reach everyone in your company. When you bring these partners into your CUG strategy, your group can move from “nice-to-have” to a visible, endorsed part of how your company works and learns.
Below are five practical ways to partner with IT and HR to grow your CUG audience, without overwhelming them or your leadership team.
1. Align Your CUG with IT & HR Priorities (So They Want to Help)
Before you ask IT or HR to promote your CUG, connect it directly to problems they already care about solving.
How to do it
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Ask IT what’s keeping them up at night. Common themes: tool sprawl, inconsistent project practices, governance, and support ticket volume. Position your CUG as a way to:
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Promote standard Jira/Confluence patterns
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Share “how we work” best practices
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Reduce repeated “how do I…?” tickets through shared learning
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Ask HR where Atlassian tools show up in the employee journey. For example:
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New hire onboarding tasks in Jira and documentation in Confluence
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Performance/goal tracking, learning and development, or internal mobility workflows
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Engagement or change initiatives that need better communication and alignment
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Map CUG topics to those priorities:
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If IT is pushing standard workflows: run a “Day in the Life” or “How we use Jira for X” series.
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If HR is rolling out a new performance process in Confluence: host a CUG session demoing the workflow with Q&A.
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Why this matters
When IT and HR see your CUG as a lever that supports adoption, consistency, and employee experience, it’s much easier for them to justify helping you with promotion and resourcing. You move from “someone asking for a favor” to “a partner helping us meet our goals.”
2. Make IT Your Co-Pilot for Tool Visibility and Governance
IT often owns Atlassian administration, license management, and internal governance. That means they know where your users are, which teams are active, and where there’s friction. Use that insight to laser-focus your growth efforts.
How to do it
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Ask for anonymized usage patterns, not private data. For example:
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Which business units or teams are the heaviest Jira/Confluence users?
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Which groups just adopted Atlassian tools recently?
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Are there projects or spaces where people struggle or open lots of support tickets?
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Co-design CUG topics with IT. Turn their hot spots into sessions:
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“Top 10 Jira mistakes our teams make (and how to fix them)”
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“How we’re standardizing workflows for better reporting”
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“Ask an Admin: Office Hours for your Atlassian questions”
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Share back what you’re learning. After each CUG event, send IT:
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A quick summary of common questions or pain points
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Emerging best practices from teams who’ve solved similar problems
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Any follow-up actions you’re taking (e.g., new Confluence pages, FAQs)
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Why this matters
IT gets more than just “one more meeting invite” - they get a structured way to scale support and governance. When they see that CUG sessions reduce confusion, drive better configuration decisions, and support change management, they’re more likely to:
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Promote CUG events in tool-related communications
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Offer admins as guest speakers
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Advocate for your CUG with leadership
3. Partner with HR on Onboarding, Learning, and Internal Comms
HR has three superpowers that can grow your CUG audience fast: access to every new hire, ownership of learning & development programs, and trusted communications channels.
How to do it
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Insert your CUG into new hire onboarding.
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Add your CUG Confluence space and/or Slack/Teams channel to the “Getting Started with Atlassian tools” section.
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Include a one-liner for facilitators:
“If you’re going to use Jira or Confluence in your role, join our internal Atlassian Company User Group for ongoing tips, Q&A, and peer support.”
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Frame CUG as continuous learning.
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Position your CUG as a recurring learning opportunity that complements formal training.
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Propose listing CUG sessions in your learning system (LMS) or training calendar as optional “internal workshops” on how real teams work in Atlassian tools.
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Use HR’s broad communications reach.
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Ask if your CUG events can be included in regular:
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Company newsletters
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“What’s happening this month” emails
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Manager digests or people-leader updates
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Provide HR with ready-to-use blurbs and images so the lift is minimal.
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Why this matters
Instead of trying to find every potential Atlassian user yourself, you embed your CUG into the normal employee journey:
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New hires discover the CUG on day one
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Existing employees see it alongside other development opportunities
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People start to associate “learning Atlassian” with “joining the CUG”
4. Co-Design Events That Feature IT & HR as Strategic Partners
Your CUG is stronger when it’s not just “tool talk,” but also about how work gets done at your company. That’s where IT and HR can shine as co-hosts, not just promoters.
How to do it
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Invite IT to co-host “ways of working” sessions.
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Examples:
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“Our Atlassian governance model: how we keep projects tidy”
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“Standard Jira workflows and why they matter for reporting”
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“Security and access: what to know before you create a new project/space”
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Invite HR to co-host people-focused sessions.
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Examples:
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“Using Confluence and Jira for onboarding and role transitions”
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“How teams track goals and priorities in Atlassian tools”
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“Supporting hybrid and remote work with Atlassian: what’s working here”
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Highlight shared ownership.
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When you promote these sessions, call out IT/HR explicitly:
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“In partnership with our IT team…”
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“Co-hosted with People & Culture…”
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Why this matters
Co-hosted sessions:
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Increase perceived legitimacy of the CUG (“This is endorsed by IT/HR.”)
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Attract new attendees who may not identify as “power users” but care about onboarding, governance, or team effectiveness
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Help IT and HR broadcast their messages in a more interactive, story-driven format than a standard policy email
5. Build a Simple, Sustainable Partnership Rhythm
Great partnerships aren’t one-off asks; they’re ongoing, lightweight habits. To keep IT and HR engaged without overloading anyone, create a simple rhythm you can maintain.
How to do it
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Start with a quarterly sync.
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30–45 minutes with a representative from IT and HR to:
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Share what your CUG has done and learned
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Review upcoming company priorities (tool rollouts, HR programs, key initiatives)
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Identify 1–2 joint opportunities for the next quarter (events, comms, or campaigns)
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Create a one-page “CUG Partner Overview.”
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Who you are (internal CUG leader(s))
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What the CUG does and who it serves
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How IT and HR benefit
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Specific partnership options:
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Promote events in specific channels
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Offer speakers or panelists for targeted sessions
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Surface upcoming changes that could benefit from CUG support
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Agree on clear, small asks.
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For each quarter, define concrete, low-lift commitments, such as:
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“HR will include one CUG mention in the monthly new-hire newsletter.”
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“IT will share our quarterly ‘What’s new in Atlassian’ CUG session in the internal support portal.”
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Share impact back.
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Send a short recap after each quarter:
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Attendance numbers and trends
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Examples of questions answered or problems solved
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Any visible impact (reduced tickets, new best-practice pages, improved onboarding materials)
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Why this matters
You avoid “big-bang” asks and show up as organized, respectful partners. When IT and HR can see concrete outcomes from small collaborations, it’s easier to deepen support over time, whether that’s more promotion, more speakers, or even recognition for CUG participation.
Bottom Line
Your Company User Group doesn’t have to grow on word-of-mouth alone.
When you intentionally partner with Internal IT and HR, you plug into the communication channels, onboarding flows, and strategic initiatives that already shape how your colleagues work.
By:
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Aligning your CUG to IT and HR priorities,
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Using IT’s visibility into tooling and governance,
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Embedding your CUG into onboarding and learning,
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Co-hosting events that blend tools with ways of working, and
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Maintaining a light but consistent partnership rhythm,
you turn your CUG into a recognized, cross-functional asset for your company.
Public-Facing Resources to Explore and Share
Here are a few external resources you can reference in your CUG communications or share with IT/HR partners who want to learn more about Atlassian communities and ways of working:
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Atlassian Team Playbook – Plays you can adapt for meeting structure, retros, and cross-team collaboration
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Confluence Guide: How to run effective meetings – Tips and templates for structuring efficient, engaging sessions
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Jira Software Guides – Best practices for planning, tracking, and reporting work that can inspire Lightning Talk topics
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Atlassian University – Training and learning paths that can complement your internal talks
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Blake Hall
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