5 Tips for Managing Asynchronous Work Effectively

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Is "async", i.e. working asynchronously, anything more than a buzzword? After all, email, the ultimate asynchronous tool, has been the most popular form of business for 20 years. So why is everyone suddenly talking about asynchronous work? In short, standardization means we've been forced to think more deeply about our working styles than ever before. -inspired by "Zoom fatigue", we've all wondered if there's an alternative to the synchronous working orthodoxy.

What do we mean by asynchronous work?

Asynchronous work is a style of work in which work communication does not need to happen in real time. Members are not expected to immediately jump on a call to resolve an issue. The benefits are clear: it facilitates flexible working hours, makes it easier to work across multiple international time zones, and often allows team members to focus better.

What asynchronous doesn't mean is less delays, no calls and no . In most areas of work, there are times when everyone needs to communicate face-to-face or voice-to-voice in real time. Asynchronous and synchronous work are best viewed as two ends of the same spectrum, rather than completely separate work models.

Across our business, we have worked effectively with both synchronous and asynchronous styles for different business units. Below I offer five tips based on my own experience of managing asynchronous work:

Related: How to Create an Asynchronous Work Culture

1. Apply the asynchronous pattern selectively

The asynchronous worker model is probably not suitable for all parts of your business. For example, we would never apply asynchrony to our customer service team. When our customers have problems, these problems are urgent and must be resolved immediately. It's not enough for team members to read a customer's case three hours after receiving the message.

The key is to apply async strategically and selectively: Async has been fantastic for our global marketing team. Team meetings once a week are enough to coordinate our social media, advertising and web content while leaving space for the "deep work" that may be suitable for these tasks - it's hard to write a technical white paper, for example, with constant distractions.

2. Set up an asynchronous work strategy

Effective asynchronous work requires an intentional asynchronous strategy. This ensures that everyone knows what is expected of them in a style of work that may be unfamiliar to them. This should include:

Communication requirements: For example, it may be preferable to require that communication be done only through designated channels. If Slack is the designated channel, but workers can also form groups, it becomes more difficult to enforce the asynchronous model.

A "designated meetings only" requirement: As mentioned earlier, no meetings are generally an unrealistic goal for an asynchronous workflow. But a focused team meeting once a week or once a fortnight can be effective when agendas, deadlines, minutes and follow-ups are required. Outside of these designated meetings, meetings should not be expected to take place.

Related: How to manage an asynchronous workflow

3. Optimize your communication tools for async

It is best to apply different technology solutions to the asynchronous and synchronized parts of the business. Obviously, team video calls (whether on Zoom or...