Podcast Summary: The Exit Five CMO Podcast
Episode Title: The Atlassian Playbook for Building a Fast-Moving, Outcome-Driven Marketing Team
Release Date: July 14, 2025
Host: Dave Gerhardt
Guests:

• Ashley Faust – Head of Lifecycle Marketing at Atlassian
• Dr. Molly Sands – Head of the Team Work Lab at Atlassian

Introduction

In this episode, hosted by Dave Gerhardt, Derek delves into the intricacies of building a high-functioning marketing team within a dynamic organization. Joining him are two esteemed guests from Atlassian—Ashley Faust and Dr. Molly Sands—who provide valuable insights into effective internal communication, meeting optimization, and fostering team collaboration.

Guest Introductions

Ashley Faust introduces herself as a multifaceted professional balancing roles in marketing with passions for singing, acting, and fitness.
Dr. Molly Sands shares her role leading the Team Work Lab at Atlassian, focusing on studying and designing better teamwork and communication strategies for distributed teams.

Effective Internal Communication

Starting with Clear Goals

• Dr. Molly Sands emphasizes the importance of anchoring all communications around clear goals.

  "Anytime you're sharing information, it should be like, why does this matter? Who should care about this? Why should they care about it?"
  (08:26)

• Ashley Faust builds on this by highlighting the distinction between sharing information and building trust. She underscores the necessity of not overwhelming team members with irrelevant data.

  "If you tag me in everything or you at here in every single channel, it signals to me that you don't know me and you don't care about me."
  (15:14)

Formatting and Clarity

• Dr. Molly Sands discusses the "clarity is kindness" principle inspired by Brené Brown, advocating for straightforward and respectful communication.

  "Clarity is actually a form of kindness to people. Just saying what you mean and saying it in, you know, like a thoughtful but direct way is really helpful."
  (17:15)

• Ashley Faust shares practical methods for structuring internal messages, such as using specific topics, relevance tags, and actionable items to ensure messages are concise and targeted.

  "If I'm tagged in that, I need to look at it. If you're tagged in everything, it signals to me that you don't care about me."
  (15:14)

Balancing Meetings and Asynchronous Communication

When to Hold Meetings vs. Go Async

• Ashley Faust outlines clear scenarios where meetings are necessary versus when asynchronous communication suffices.

  "If there is only going to be one person talking, it can probably be an async update."
  (21:07)

  Conversely, meetings are essential for:

  • Sparring Sessions: Collaborative discussions to refine ideas in real-time.

    "Sparring is when two equals get in the ring and go around on an idea to figure out if it's good."
    (21:36)

  • Building Connections: Informal interactions that foster trust and rapport among team members.

    "Having a coffee chat, building that trust and rapport, figuring out how did you, you know, what did you do this long weekend?"
    (21:36)

• Dr. Molly Sands adds that alternating between focused collaborative time and deep individual work leads to more productive and connected teams.

  "Teams that have bursty communication patterns, where they're doing that sparring, have times of deep work, are the most successful and productive."
  (24:39)

Optimizing Meeting Structure

• Ashley Faust introduces the concept of rotating meeting facilitators to ensure diverse leadership and prevent meetings from becoming stale.

  "Rotating who owns the meeting each week ensures everyone practices facilitation and presentation skills."
  (38:40)

• Dr. Molly Sands agrees, emphasizing that meetings should have clear purposes and agendas to avoid being mere status updates.

  "Having dedicated time to work on a problem together and solving it enhances connection and trust."
  (24:39)

Fostering Inclusive and Collaborative Meetings

Engaging All Participants

• Dr. Molly Sands discusses techniques to ensure all voices are heard in meetings, such as using structured methods like pre-meeting pages or whiteboards for contributions.

  "Having a Confluence page where everyone can add comments ensures a more equitable and inclusive discussion."
  (31:19)

• Ashley Faust shares her strategy of guiding discussions to connect with team members' specific roles and contributions, making meetings more relevant and engaging.

  "Tailoring communication to deliver the right message to the right person in the right format fosters better internal interactions."
  (55:12)

Handling Dominant Voices

• Derek raises a concern about meetings being dominated by a few loud voices and seeks strategies to encourage broader participation.

• Dr. Molly Sands and Ashley Faust suggest using structured agendas, pre-meeting preparations, and facilitation techniques to create more balanced and productive dialogues.

  "Using tools like whiteboards and encouraging written contributions can help quieter members share their insights without feeling put on the spot."
  (32:30)

Best Practices for Recurring Team Meetings

Structured Agendas and Rotations

• Ashley Faust describes her team's approach to rotating meeting ownership, ensuring each member gets a chance to lead and contribute creatively.

  "Rotating the meeting owner each week keeps the discussions fresh and allows everyone to practice leadership."
  (38:40)

• Dr. Molly Sands recommends regular "ritual resets" to evaluate the effectiveness of recurring meetings and adjust their formats as needed.

  "Quarterly evaluations of meeting structures help maintain their relevance and effectiveness."
  (38:40)

Anchoring Discussions with Goals or Scorecards

• Ashley Faust and Dr. Molly Sands emphasize the importance of starting meetings with key metrics or goals to maintain focus and ensure discussions are aligned with organizational objectives.

  "Anchoring meetings on campaigns and key metrics helps keep the conversation targeted and actionable."
  (42:09)

Enhancing Brainstorming Sessions

Effective Brainstorming Techniques

• Ashley Faust shares a creative exercise to stimulate productive brainstorming by first identifying the worst ways to solve a problem, which paradoxically helps uncover viable solutions.

  "Asking 'What’s the worst way to solve this problem?' can lead to innovative solutions by eliminating ineffective ideas."
  (46:05)

• Dr. Molly Sands adds that successful brainstorming requires involving the right people and thorough preparation, ensuring that ideas are grounded in relevant context and actionable insights.

  "Including team members with direct customer insights leads to more effective and meaningful brainstorming outcomes."
  (48:32)

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

• Both guests caution against unstructured brainstorming sessions that lack clear objectives or include irrelevant participants, which can lead to inefficiency and demoralization.

  "Ensuring that brainstorming sessions have a clear purpose and the right participants prevents sessions from becoming useless or demotivating."
  (48:32)

Managing Team Focus and Prioritization

Creating Clear Focus for Teams

• Dr. Molly Sands highlights the critical role of leaders in helping teams prioritize and focus on key initiatives rather than juggling too many tasks simultaneously.

  "Creating focus helps teams achieve their goals more efficiently by reducing the distractions of competing priorities."
  (53:10)

• Ashley Faust echoes the importance of aligning internal communications with external strategies, ensuring that messages are relevant and impactful for different audiences within the organization.

  "Tailoring internal communications to match the needs and understanding of different team members enhances effectiveness and engagement."
  (55:12)

Strategic Leadership

• Derek emphasizes the necessity for marketing leaders to have a clear and simple strategy, often anchored in one or two key initiatives that drive broader success.

  "A successful marketing team often has a clear and simple strategy, focusing on one or two key initiatives that drive overall success."
  (54:10)

• Ashley Faust advises marketers to communicate clearly with leadership about which metrics and initiatives are most impactful, ensuring that the information shared is actionable and relevant.

  "Focusing on metrics that directly relate to leadership’s priorities ensures that communications are meaningful and drive action."
  (50:19)

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Creating Focus and Clarity

• Leaders must prioritize creating clear goals and focus for their teams, minimizing distractions from excessive meetings and information overload.

  "Your team will move fast if you create focus."
  (53:10)

Tailoring Communication

• Effective internal communication requires tailoring messages to the audience, ensuring relevance, clarity, and actionable insights.

  "Match the right message to the right people in the right place at the right time in the right format."
  (28:15)

Balanced Meeting Structures

• Implementing structured and purposeful meetings, rotating facilitators, and incorporating both synchronous and asynchronous communication methods enhances team productivity and collaboration.

Inclusive and Collaborative Practices

• Encouraging diverse participation, utilizing structured communication tools, and fostering an inclusive environment ensures that all team members contribute effectively.

Strategic Brainstorming

• Conducting well-defined brainstorming sessions with clear objectives and the right participants leads to innovative and actionable outcomes.

Final Thoughts

Ashley Faust and Dr. Molly Sands provide actionable strategies for marketing leaders aiming to build fast-moving, outcome-driven teams. By focusing on clear goals, effective communication, balanced meeting structures, and fostering an inclusive environment, organizations can enhance team productivity and collaboration.

Notable Quotes:

• Dr. Molly Sands at 08:26: "Anytime you're sharing information, it should be like, why does this matter? Who should care about this? Why should they care about it?"

• Ashley Faust at 15:14: "If you're tagged in everything, it signals to me that you don't know me and you don't care about me."

• Dr. Molly Sands at 17:15: "Clarity is actually a form of kindness to people."

• Ashley Faust at 21:07: "If there is only going to be one person talking, it can probably be an async update."

• Dr. Molly Sands at 24:39: "Teams that have bursty communication patterns... are the most successful and productive."

• Ashley Faust at 38:40: "Rotating the meeting owner each week ensures everyone practices facilitation and presentation skills."

• Dr. Molly Sands at 53:10: "Your team will move fast if you create focus."

This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting key points, discussions, and actionable insights shared by the guests. It is structured to provide clarity and flow, making it valuable for listeners and non-listeners alike.