The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

How do we build high-performing teams in a world where colleagues might never meet face to face?  At the X4 Summit in Salt Lake City, I caught up with two standout voices from Atlassian—Molly Sands, Head of the Teamwork Lab, and Emma Crockett, Head of People Insights. Together, they bring a rich mix of behavioral science, experimentation, and data-driven strategy to the future of work. In this episode, we unpack what it really takes to design distributed work environments that foster both productivity and connection. Molly shares how her team studies internal and external teams to understand what drives collaboration in a hybrid world, while Emma reveals how Atlassian turns insights into action by grounding people strategies in measurable outcomes. We talk about clear goal setting, the power of asynchronous communication, and how the physical workspace itself can evolve to support a flexible, purposeful culture. But this isn’t just about metrics and models—it’s about human connection. From a delightful exper