
Zapier’s secret? Move away from messaging and create an internal company blog! It’s a virtual place for people to write about what they’re working on and for teams to give updates on upcoming projects.
It’s a great way to create a knowledge hub. People don’t feel tethered to their screens lest someone DM them. Someone else in the channel might see it, know the answer, and reply. Frees up your time waiting for a reply. That’s why at GitLab, you’re asked not to send direct messages unless you really have to, but instead a question in relevant channels. Sitting on the synchronous-asynchronous border, Slack makes it so that you don’t have to reply to people right away, but you also kind of have to. One of the rules in GitLab’s 3,000 page handbook: don’t abuse Slack. Their MO: asynchronous communication, of course! Let’s meet them and hear their insights. Since they’d been remote-first for quite some time, they’ve got serious wisdom for the rest of us as we try to catch up.
Get started 4 remote companies’ secrets to using asynchronous communicationīefore most companies scrambled to figure out how a team communicates remotely, there were others who had already mastered distributed teams and video conferencing. But is it realistic? You bet your asynchronous mindset it is!
You’re in better control of your time and therefore can be more productive. You aren’t expected to have split-second answers, giving you time to think through more nuanced responses. You can unitask and experience flow - when you’re absorbed by your work and riding on the high of it. #AASYNC REMOTE HELP FREE#
You’re free to unplug when you need to focus on work or yourself. It allows individuals to communicate but doesn’t require the need to reply instantly. You might have had good time management skills, but now you’re less productive.Īsynchronous communication is the opposite.
When you respond to people on the fly, you might say things that aren’t so thought out or thoughtful. You’re constantly being virtually tapped on the shoulder, causing you to multitask. Synchronous communication is when you’re expected to always be “on” and ready to answer someone. What is asynchronous communication?īefore we answer that, let’s talk about synchronous communication. Meet four entirely remote companies that are managing their time (and remote team members) while being more productive thanks to two words: Asynchronous Communication. Well… we can’t tell you to get rid of video calls entirely-you’ll still need them for some things like brainstorming and problem solving-but you can have fewer of them.ĭon’t just take our word for it. So how do we get off the pendulum and get back to managing our time well so we can be our best productive selves? To make matters worse, back-to-back calls can make it difficult to manage your time to do, like, real work. With more than a year of remote work (and the video calls that come with it), all of us are riding on an emotional pendulum of feeling overwhelmed, then complacent, and overwhelmed again.