Escape the meeting trap and roll up your sleeves to actually get sh!t done.
It feels great to make real progress with your team. But too often, work gets bogged down in a frustrating cycle: you’re waiting for input from collaborators stuck in back-to-back meetings, while urgent requests for your input keep piling up. Deadlines slip, blockers multiply, and high-priority work slows to a crawl.
Atlassian’s State of Teams research reveals that teams spend 50% more time in unnecessary meetings than making progress on high-priority work. The problem? These meetings are spent talking about work – sharing updates and information – instead of rolling up their sleeves and doing work together.
I lead Atlassian’s Teamwork Lab, a group of behavioral scientists that designs best practices for modern teams. Our research reveals a powerful antidote to unproductive meeting culture: eliminate information-dump meetings and use that synchronous time for real collaboration. Think: building decks, writing documents, solving problems, sharing feedback, and revising work together.
What makes this shift so powerful?
When meeting time is deliberately structured for collaboration, it unleashes the power of “bursty” communication.
bursty communication
A distinct rhythm shared by high-performing teams, characterized by intense “bursts” of rapid communication between team members alternating with periods of deep individual work.
Research shows that this bursty communication pattern makes it easy for teams to advance important work by quickly flowing between ideation and execution – driving faster problem-solving and more innovative outcomes.
To tap into this “bursty” rhythm, modern teams must deliberately shift how they work and make room for bursty communication to happen.
First, move routine updates and information-sharing to asynchronous channels like Slack, email, and Loom videos, keeping everyone in the loop without disrupting their flow.
This frees up sync time for what we like to call “Get Sh!t Done (GSD) Sessions”: dedicated one- to two-hour blocks designed for this type of high-impact collaborative work.
The term “GSD Sessions” works for us
Think of these sessions as a virtual “tap on the shoulder” moment, during which teams can demo early work, get immediate feedback, and solve problems on the spot. There’s no waiting for responses or hesitation to “interrupt” – exactly the kind of environment that facilitates the communication and collaboration that drives team success.
As one Atlassian whose team tried GSD Sessions said, “It’s like magic.” Here’s how to bring that magic to your team:
5 steps to run an effective GSD session
| 1. Schedule a block of time for collaboration. | – Choose collaborators based on session needs: Include a small group of people who are critical to completing the work, regardless of function or reporting lines. – Start small: Block off a one- to two-hour chunk of time for your team once or twice a week. As your team gets comfortable, you can build up to 10-20% of your week (roughly 4-8 hours). – Replace meetings: Look for existing meetings that are primarily spent talking about work. These are prime candidates to convert into GSD Sessions. |
| 2. Prepare to roll up your sleeves together on high-priority work. | – Remember: this session is set aside for in-progress work. The point isn’t to present something polished, it’s to get work done together. – Keep it flexible: No fixed agenda needed – just be ready to tackle your most critical task(s) with key people as needs arise. – The day before (or day of) the session, spend 5-10 minutes identifying high-priority tasks that would benefit from real-time collaboration. |
| 3. Set up your tools for seamless interaction. | Keep the video call running throughout the GSD Session. Alternate between: – Camera/mic ON: for planning, questions, or feedback – Camera/mic OFF: for focused work to action the things you’ve discussed – If you have questions during focus time, use chat messages or briefly turn your camera/mic back on. – The rhythm will feel natural once your team gets the hang of it. |
| 4. Use bursty communication. | – Alternate between group work and individual focus. One successful approach: meet for 10 minutes to align, work independently for 30, then regroup to share progress and solve blockers. – Create a “tap on the shoulder” atmosphere: make it safe for teammates to ask for help, troubleshoot, and share spontaneous ideas – that’s how great solutions emerge. |
| 5. Aim for progress, not perfection. | – Remember: GSD Sessions are about making tangible progress. – Whether you’re developing new ideas or refining existing work, the goal is to work in a way that feels responsive and momentum-building. |
Get buy-in from your team with this message:
“Hey Team! I’d like us to try out GSD Sessions. These are dedicated time blocks that we’ll use to collaborate on high-priority tasks together, in real time.
They’re flexible – we can decide which projects to tackle and which key collaborators to include as the session approaches. We can accomplish things like:
- Writing a page together
- Working through a complex problem live
- Reviewing and providing feedback on each other’s work
Next steps: You’ll see some GSD Session holds on your calendar soon!
Go deeper: GSD Sessions facilitate bursty communication, which research shows fuels innovation and productivity. Check out this blog on GSD Sessions from Atlassian for more details.”
The power of GSD Sessions
We tested GSD Sessions with 103 Atlassians over 2.5 weeks. From the 40 participants who provided feedback, the results were striking, demonstrating the impact of creating real-time space for getting high-priority work done together.
Boost progress on key priorities
After 2.5 weeks of GSD Sessions, teams’ ability to resolve blockers increased by 39 percentage points. Meanwhile, we found that bursty communication was in fact the secret sauce for moving work forward: when teams reported alternating between bursts of rapid communication and deep individual work during their GSD Sessions, they made 24% more progress on top priorities.
We can debate immediately when a question or problem occurs and not need to wait until we find time for a meeting.
Chris Spanner, Advisory Services
Increase innovation
Teams’ ability to explore new ideas increased by 26 percentage points during the weeks they participated in GSD Sessions. Real-time collaboration sparked creativity – people could immediately build on each other’s suggestions, leading to more cohesive and innovative solutions than they’d find working separately.
We could not only discuss but quickly get feedback after trialing the ideas discussed. This meant we could move and pivot faster.
Annaliese McGavin, Senior People Researcher
Strengthen team connection and energize collaboration
Team connection increased by 27 percentage points, with 85% of participants feeling connected post-sessions. Participants’ energy levels increased by 21 percentage points, showing the motivating power of effective collaboration.
Most notably, anxiety around collaboration disappeared completely: before GSD Sessions, 52% worried about inconveniencing teammates when asking for feedback. After just one week, not a single participant reported feeling anxious.
The results speak for themselves: 69% of participants recommend GSD Sessions to their colleagues, and 65% plan to make them a permanent part of their workflow.
Ready to transform how your team creates together? Schedule your first GSD Session this week and start turning meeting time into momentum.