?? Being an APM at Atlassian India

June 20, 2022.

I opened the new laptop as instructed and set myself up for the moment I’ve been waiting for so long. I finally made it to Atlassian as an Associate Product Manager!

That’s when the reality set in. This was not the end of the journey. In fact, it was just the beginning!

This company literally introduced me to the term “Product Management”, all thanks to Sherif’s video series:

The journey from knowing about what a PM does, actually being one in your dream company and progressing through the path has been quite the ride. I’m here to tell you all about it.

So grab onto your hats and let’s goooo! ??

I joined the Commerce team at Atlassian, which has everything to do with subscription lifecycle management, billing, payments, bundling, etc. for all Atlassian products. We’re lucky to have a very strong product representation from the India office. However, we also get to collaborate with folks from Sydney, Austin, Manila, Amsterdam and other offices on a regular basis.

I was sharing the (virtual) room with some of the brightest minds that I’ve ever come across. These were industry stalwarts who knew what they saying and said what they were doing. And here I was – the only APM from India with no work experience or MBA, just a dream of making it big. Only time will tell how successful has the gamble of hiring me been for them!

I quickly realized that I need to be on my toes and learn all that I can as quickly as possible. My interview prep was not going to translate directly into the real world. This is because I was very unfamiliar with some of the industry standard terminologies and the ways of working. I had to gear myself up for the real deal!

I would be lying if I said it was an easy task. Quite the contrary – I found myself failing multiple times, fumbling while being asked questions, often feeling small in the company of some really sharp people.

But eventually, it was the people, the open culture at Atlassian that made this uphill battle not only less challenging, but also fun! When I heard the Senior PMs in my team talk about metrics and terms that I was vaguely familiar with, I thought it would be hard for me to bring my problems to them.

But boy, was I wrong! Not only did my peers help me understand what I didn’t know, they also instilled in me a sense of comfort in the chaos. That as a product manager dealing with varied challenges, various teams and vivacious goals, it’s okay to not know everything. The constant presence of my peers checking in on me and seeing if I got what I needed, helped me move forward and become more confident with every passing month. ??

As I progressed in my journey, I realized that even the most seniormost people in the company did not have answers to all the questions. But their comfort in not knowing things and curiosity to know more, is what eventually made them such a master at their craft!

My work had been running on a remote cadence since day one, which allowed to me to collaborate with my peers beyond geographical borders. Slowly but surely, I learned how to use Atlassian’s tools such as Confluence, Jira Product Discovery, Loom and Trello to get sh*t done and work from anywhere, anytime.

But we all know that no man’s an island. Stretches of remote work were broken down by in-office workshops, brainstorming sessions and team dinners. The giggly kid inside me loved taking a company-sponsored flight to Bangalore, stay in luxurious hotels, connect with people outside of work in-real-life, and bond over shared wins and struggles during team dinners.

I was given an extraordinary amount of ownership ever since I started off with my first project. Within no time, I was running solo and was collaborating with engineering, design, business, legal, finance and other stakeholders that I had to connect. Not only that, I was able to get all the guidance that I needed to move forward, thanks to my amazing mentor and manager. Talk about having the best of both worlds!

Moreover, as I gained confidence running initiatives of my own, my team encouraged me, as the new kid on the block, to take up new, cutting-edge initiatives and implement them in our legacy systems.

Currently I’m running a project that will allow Atlassian’s Customer Advocates leverage AI to help reach back to our customers and resolve their queries faster than ever before. It’s like being a startup founder, with minimal downside and the opportunity to create a huge impact by serving Atlassian’s largest customers!

Mike and Scott have always put a great emphasis on the culture of the company, ever since we started some 22 years ago. The result – super-talented yet super-chill co-workers, approachable and super-nice execs and dope office facilities ??

Did I miss out on the ITGs? Intentional Togetherness events are the most fun, and help you connect with your colleagues on a much deeper level. A lot of my office friends include people who don’t directly work with me, and that gives me an insight into the verticals that I’m not even involved in. This helps me understand the importance of my work, in relation to whatever else in going on in the wider org.

If all that sounds too good to be true, then I’d encourage you to try it for yourself, if you get the chance! Atlassian is that one company, which in the words of our co-founder Scott, wants to spoil you so much through its mission, culture and perks, that you won’t like to work anywhere else! Being an APM here really helps you grasp how great software companies are built and what makes them great – ship indispensably great products without which users can’t imagine their daily work!

Thanks for reading it all the way to the end. Excited to join us? Check out https://www.atlassian.com/company/careers and shoot me a DM if you find a role that interests you ??

Take care!