What's new in Team Central—January 2022 edition

[#1]

Hello and Happy New Year to you in 2022 ! We could say new year, new you , but we all know that keeping new year’s resolutions is not as easy as making them. While we’re all for setting goals and crushing them, we need more than just the what to propel us to achieve what we want. We also need to understand the why to help us set up systems for success.

You may already be familiar with the concept of goals versus systems from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. But if not, here’s what the author says about that:

Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results…You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

At Team Central, we’re all about helping you and your teams create a system of repeatable success —through quick communication on progress, context and help to move work forward. But it’s up to you to define not only what you want to achieve this year, but also why. Team Central can help you with the how.

As you read through our latest updates, we’ll suggest a couple resolutions to get you to start reflecting on what will be your “what” and “why” this year.

#1: Meet new people at work

With more of us working remotely or in a hybrid environment, it can be hard to meet new people when you’re working, especially without the organic connections you make when sharing a physical space. If you work at a large organization, or if you’re a new employee, understanding who everyone is and where they sit in an org chart can be immensely helpful.

Thankfully, we make that easy for you to see in everyone’s individual Team Central’s profile. You’ll be able to find key information about your teammates—such as what they do, which teams they work in and also who they report to—for a quick overview on who they are and how they might relate to you in the org.

Your Atlassian admin can get this set up by following the quick and easy instructions found in this Help article.

Some of you may have also noticed a new “Organization chart” option in the Teams menu. We’re developing this now! Want to help us shape what it’ll look like? Sign up here.

#2 Acknowledge and appreciate your teams

Sure, with the ability to @mention a team now across Team Central, Jira and Confluence cloud, it’s easy to make sure the right people are in the loop, like in the screenshot above. But you know what else you can use this for? You could also acknowledge and thank the whole team when an important initiative is launched or a tricky bug is fixed.

Plus, you can now @mention a team within a comment in either a goal or project , so your shoutout can spark a conversation around the appreciation too! Go ahead—make many people’s days.

Unexpected, playful moments of praise or recognition can often be more meaningful than “official” ones because they signal that someone is not only paying attention to what we’re doing well, but cares enough to go out of their way to celebrate it.

The above is an excerpt from Aaker and Bagdonas' book Humor, Seriously, another thought-provoking (and utterly delightful) read!

#3 Learn something new and apply it!

At Atlassian, we all share a love of learning and consuming content in all the formats. So here’s a shameless for some of the many great things we’re producing for you to read, listen or watch to inspire you in 2022!

Bookmark and read our blog, especially this timely post on how small talk at work can have big benefits, as we’re catching up from end of year breaks and festivities.

Listen and subscribe to our newest podcast Work Check Archives - Work Life by Atlassian. The latest episode around operating rhythms is especially thought-provoking for us Team Central users.

Watch our highlights from last year’s Team ‘21, with special shoutouts for Team Central! We’re all busily working on Team '22, so be on the lookout for future information on that as well.

• Humans at the heart of teamwork where our co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes introduced Team Central in his keynote

• Introducing the Loop: A framework for predictable comms in an unpredictable world

Now is the time to make the most of this year! Go get ‘em , it’s your year* after all!

*Well, technically starting February 1st.

Thanks for reading! As always, please share your feedback in the comments and subscribe to the team-central RSS feed to stay up to date on the latest. You can also share what book(s) you recommend or plan to read this year!

[Nikki Zavadska _Appfire_]

Thank you for a great post @Vivian Chau

The tips are definitely helpful these days when everyone is working on yearly/quarterly plans!

My book recommendation is The Mom test 👉 http://momtestbook.com/

Although the Goals and systems are important for the delivery, what and why are you delivering should not be forgotten either and this book pretty much covers that.

[Vivian Chau]

Awesome, thank you for sharing @Nikki Zavadska _Appfire_

I hadn't heard of this book before so I'll put it on my reading list!