Weekly Wonder: Winning Executive Sponsorship - What Leaders Need to Hear (and See)

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As a Company User Group (CUG) leader, you’re close enough to everyday tooling challenges to see what’s working and what isn’t.

But to get the time, visibility, and resources your CUG deserves, you need more than enthusiasm from peers. You need an executive sponsor who understands that your group isn’t “just another meeting,” but a lever for adoption, governance, and better ways of working.

This week, we’ll focus on what leaders actually need to hear (and see) from you to confidently back your CUG.

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1. Translate CUG value into business outcomes, not activities

Executives don’t primarily care that you’re “hosting sessions” or “building community” - they care about how those things move the needle on strategic goals.

How to frame it:

Instead of:

• “We want to run monthly CUG meetings to talk about Jira and Confluence.”

Try:

• “We want to run monthly CUG sessions that reduce tool confusion, shorten onboarding time for new users, and standardize processes across teams.”

Connect your CUG to outcomes executives already track, such as:

• Faster project delivery and fewer handoff delays

• Higher product adoption and fewer support tickets

• Better compliance and more consistent workflows across teams

The more you anchor your CUG in metrics they already care about, the easier it is for leaders to see it as a strategic investment instead of a nice-to-have.

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2. Come with a clear, lightweight “sponsorship ask”

Executives are more likely to say “yes” when the request is concrete, time-bound, and clearly scoped. If your ask is vague (“we’d love your support”) or sounds like a big time sink, they’ll hesitate.

What leaders need to hear:

• Exactly what you’re asking for:
  E.g., “We’re asking you to sponsor this CUG by doing three things: approve 1–2 hours per quarter for employees to attend, join one meeting per year to share why this matters, and include a short CUG mention in one leadership newsletter.”

• How much time it will take:
  Break it down: “Your total time investment would be ~2–3 hours per quarter.”

• What you’ll still own:
  Make it clear you’re not asking them to run the group: “The CUG leadership team will own agenda, logistics, communications, and follow-up. We’re asking you to lend voice, visibility, and air cover.”

When the “ask” feels contained and well thought out, executives can support you without fearing a surprise workload.

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3. Show proof, not promises: bring data and stories

Executives hear a lot of ideas. What cuts through is evidence that your CUG is already delivering value and could deliver more with their backing.

What to show them:

• Simple participation metrics:

  • Number of attendees per session

  • Growth or consistency in attendance over time

  • Representation across teams or departments

• Impact signals:

  • Fewer repeated “how do I…?” questions in Slack/Teams after sessions

  • Increased usage of key Atlassian features you’ve showcased

  • Examples of workflows improved or standardized after a CUG meeting

• Short, real-world stories:

  • “After our whiteboards-focused CUG, Team X used it to redesign their sprint planning and cut meeting time by 30%.”

  • “Our onboarding-focused session gave new hires a ‘starter playbook’ they now reference instead of escalating basic questions.”

Leaders need to see that you’re not asking them to fund an experiment from scratch - you’re scaling something that’s already working.

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4. Position your CUG as risk reducer and change enabler

Executives are often held accountable for two competing pressures: driving change and minimizing risk. Your CUG can help with both, but you have to make that explicit.

How to frame it:

• As a governance ally:
  “Our CUG is a forum to reinforce standard practices, demo approved patterns, and steer people away from risky or homegrown workarounds.”

• As a change-management channel:
  “Whenever we roll out new features, workflows, or projects, the CUG can act as a built-in communication and feedback loop. We can help socialize changes, gather questions, and smooth adoption.”

• As an early-warning system:
  “Because our members are close to the tools, we can surface recurring friction or gaps early before they become larger adoption or compliance issues.”

When you show your CUG as a partner in responsible, sustainable change, you align with leadership’s mandate to “move fast, but safely.”

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5. Make saying “yes” easy with a simple plan and next step

Even a supportive leader can stall if they’re not sure what happens after they agree. Closing the loop with a clear, low-friction next step makes sponsorship feel actionable instead of abstract.

What leaders need to see from you:

• A one-page CUG overview:

  • Purpose and benefits (tied to business outcomes)

  • Target audience and meeting cadence

  • Examples of topics and recent sessions

  • High-level success measures you’ll track

• A 90-day sponsorship plan:
  For example:

  • Month 1: Executive sends a short endorsement message + approves employee time to attend.

  • Month 2: CUG runs a “strategic” session aligned to a current initiative (e.g., quality, velocity, standardization) and shares a short recap with the sponsor.

  • Month 3: 15-minute check-in with the sponsor to share outcomes and discuss next quarter.

• A clear “yes/no” decision and date:
  Wrap up your conversation with: “If this sounds aligned, could we confirm your sponsorship by [date]? I’ll send a short summary and draft message you can tweak and send to your leaders or teams.”

By doing the legwork (structure, messaging, and metrics), you reduce cognitive load and make sponsorship an easy, confident “yes.”

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Winning executive sponsorship isn’t about convincing leadership to care about “your” initiative; it’s about showing them how your CUG helps them achieve their goals.

When you translate your work into business outcomes, bring clear and reasonable asks, back it up with data and stories, highlight your role in governance and change, and lay out a simple plan, you make it easy for leaders to support and champion your group.

Your CUG already has impact. Executive sponsorship simply turns that impact into something visible, sustainable, and strategically supported across the organization.

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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)