If asynchronous tools are only used to communicate functional information, teams can feel disconnected and, over time, trust begins to deteriorate. An asynchronous working environment frees employee time by preventing frequent video meetings, phone call discussions, and constant interruption throughout their workday. An asynchronous messaging tool spares you the trouble of going over to a colleague’s desk for work follow-up or calling a meeting for quick updates. Additionally, you can access the chat history at any time for information about your ongoing project. And that’s why you need to encourage asynchronous communication amongst your distributed team, so nothing falls through the crack, and your business runs smoothly. When deciding between the two, it’s important to consider the urgency of a certain task.
They set the stakes, determine everyone’s focus, and decide what will be each team’s short- and long-term priorities. While it may be possible to hold some aspects of these asynchronously (such as pre-work), by and large they should be happening in real time. Like we said earlier, despite the numerous benefits of async communication, not every meeting needs to be canceled or converted into a new format. Traditional synchronous meetings, whether in-person or remote, will likely still be an essential form of communication for your organization.
Key takeaways
They can work more efficiently and independently when they don’t have to ask others for the information they need. This seems like a small thing, but if someone needs to request access, it can lead to hours or even a full day of delay in an async workplace. Share all relevant information and discuss key issues before the meeting so that everyone can come https://remotemode.net/ with a complete understanding of the topic at hand. Visualize things with screenshots or screen recordings with apps like CloudApp and Loom. Be clear about what you need from the other person and what the deadline is. A few extra minutes adding details and editing for clarity on the front-end can save days of back-and-forths in an async environment.
That same research revealed that 43% of workers felt they spent inordinate amounts of time switching between apps, and 45% felt it made them less productive. With this shift in work culture, we’re learning that employee burnout is on the rise too. Surveys show nearly 80% of workers in 2021 reported stress and burnout as a challenge to well-being at work.
Collaboration across time zones is seamless.
This can happen through a variety of methods, including email, text messaging, online chat, and more. Synchronous communication means everyone involved is online and interacting at the same time. Connecting in sync is appropriate for situations that require real-time interactions like team-building, planning, making complex decisions, or brainstorming.
Product teams are more efficient when they’re using as few communication tools as possible (asynchronous or otherwise), even if said tools aren’t everybody’s cup of tea. To add to this, having too many communication tools often results in product teams never really mastering any communication tool, which makes them less adept at communicating. Now that we’ve covered why you might use asynchronous communication, the different types, and common tools, let’s take a look at some best practices.
What is asynchronous communication?
Before we dig into the benefits of a more async approach to teamwork, let’s look at why we should question our current, real-time ways of working and communicating. Study after study after study into remote work has clarified that remote workers are more productive than their office-bound counterparts. Written communication via asynchronous messaging is more reliable than face-to-face communication. Async communication is beneficial when your employees work in different time zones. They are not put on the spot to give an immediate response or work idea. Instead, they get a chance to research and find a more profitable solution to any work challenge.
Remote workers tend to communicate asynchronously by default, since they aren’t in the same place at the same time. Synchronous communication is any communication that happens in real time. Think of a face-to-face conversation, a brainstorming meeting (whether that’s remote or in person), or an online chat conversation via Microsoft Teams or Slack. With this type of communication, the person or people you’re communicating with are able to respond immediately. In this piece, you’ll learn what asynchronous communication is, the benefits and challenges, how it differs from synchronous communication, and when to do it.