--- title: How Microsoft and Atlassian used culture to manage change description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. canonical: https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7178807/how-microsoft-and-atlassian-used-culture-to-manage-change/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-24T11:30:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-28T07:07:29.211Z og:title: How Microsoft and Atlassian used culture to manage change og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. og:url: https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7178807/how-microsoft-and-atlassian-used-culture-to-manage-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1f3e8cb00ffc404/698a9c7c9862f5847e89cbf0/pb-charter-pmi-social.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: pb-charter-pmi-social og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Microsoft and Atlassian used culture to manage change twitter:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1f3e8cb00ffc404/698a9c7c9862f5847e89cbf0/pb-charter-pmi-social.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- The information presented here is created by Charter, independently from the TIME editorial staff.  Time charter * [change](/partner-content/charter/tag/change/) ## change # How Microsoft and Atlassian used culture to manage change by [Kevin J. Delaney](https://time.com/author/kevin-delaney/) Nov 24, 2024 11:30 AM UTC  by [Kevin J. Delaney](https://time.com/author/kevin-delaney/) Nov 24, 2024 11:30 AM UTC When Atlassian shifted from in-person offices to a fully distributed workforce amid Covid, its leaders leaned into the transparency and trust elements of its organizational culture to try to make that major transition successful. The tech company’s co-founders posted videos of themselves sharing updates, including proactively highlighting unknowns. They [created a team](https://www.charterworks.com/charter-30-annie-dean/) focused on best practices around remote collaboration, which then enlisted about one thousand employee volunteers to encourage adoption of specific practices and behaviors. Sign up for Charter's newsletter to get the handbook for the future of work delivered to your inbox. Email Address You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our [Terms of Service](https://www.charterworks.com/terms-of-service/) and [Privacy Policy](https://www.charterworks.com/privacy-policy/). Microsoft famously initiated a cultural shift in the mid-2010s, when CEO Satya Nadella led the company’s workforce to [embrace a growth mindset](https://fortune.com/2024/05/20/satya-nadella-microsoft-culture-growth-mindset-learn-it-alls-know-it-alls/) as the foundation of its culture. A decade later, executives questioned how pervasive that approach was and whether it was the right foundation for Microsoft’s next phase. They embarked on a listening tour and concluded the culture didn’t need to change, but how they talked about it did. One outgrowth of that was a revival of “culture conversations,” where teams discuss a growth mindset culture and how it can help advance Microsoft’s new business priorities. The company’s HR and employee communications teams created toolkits with specific guidance and resources for managers to hold those conversations. The above are high-level glimpses of just two of the case studies in a new research playbook from Charter examining how organizations have successfully used their cultures as a central tool to succeed at large-scale change. As the case studies demonstrate, culture can be a constant through uncertainty, a manual for leaders in redefining or doubling down on values, or a north star to guide workers through transformation. The playbook, whose publication was supported by Philip Morris International, includes practical takeaways for leaders to apply to their own change efforts, as well as insights from academics and other experts who study culture about how best to steward it through change. [**Download it here**](https://www.charterworks.com/culture-change-management-playbook/). And [**register for a related webinar**](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5F3q8iV4y1Tpyhjyf5LaOiBA) on December 2 from 12-1pm ET to discuss culture and change management directly with top executives and experts. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7178807/how-microsoft-and-atlassian-used-culture-to-manage-change/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7178807/how-microsoft-and-atlassian-used-culture-to-manage-change/"},"headline":"How Microsoft and Atlassian used culture to manage change","datePublished":"2024-11-24T11:30:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T07:07:29.211Z","description":"A preview of Charter's new playbook, \"Culture in a Time of Change.\"","url":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/7178807/how-microsoft-and-atlassian-used-culture-to-manage-change/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1f3e8cb00ffc404/698a9c7c9862f5847e89cbf0/pb-charter-pmi-social.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin J. 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