How to Build a Collaborative Asynchronous Work Environment

With remote work taking over the world and different models for employees, it’s hard to communicate efficiently. Imagine you have remote QA asking an office developer about a bug at 8 pm or a remote developer being interrupted during focus time because of the marketing process. It sounds annoying, right??

The simple way to solve this is asynchronous work culture and communication. The trend for the new approach only seems to grow.?

A common explanation of asynchronous work is the freedom to work without the expectation of immediately responding or interacting with others.?

Benefits of Asynchronous for Tech?

1st advantage is that the asynchronous approach allows measuring results not hours. If the developer needs an evening for the family outing, it doesn’t mean they won’t deliver a feature on time. However, the more established such culture is, the more loyal employees you’ll get.?

2nd benefit is hiring remote worldwide specialists is easier and collaboration is smoother. During asynchronous work, no one is actually interrupted during their focus time, as they can respond when they are free.?

The biggest advantage for me is that asynchronous culture encourages clear intentions and thoughtful messages. That way, when you text someone not in real-time chat, you explain the reason, question, etc in a full manner with all necessary details at once. Cool right? ??

Doing Asynchronous the Right Way

1. Start slow, educate the team, and give it time to play out

It’s better to do it from the start of the company but switching can be done too. The approach will fail without the process being explained to the employees. It can lead to conflicts so be careful at the start. Also, with such a process make sure you have a “knowledge base” for new people in teams.?

2. Write documentation and record important meetings?

If someone can’t be present during the meeting, record it and add it to the right tools. Also, the repeated process (like testing) should be written down, so everyone can revisit and refresh the process. Great helpers are internal communication tools with the automated business process like Zapier or Airtable.

3. Choose right tools

While some tools are good for asynchronous work like Slack or Google Docs, there are lots of them suited for software development. Incora team liked Trello for some projects and Stack Overflow for Teams (bigger projects).?

It depends a lot on your daily routines, but great collaboration is essential for flexible work.?

4. Put more trust in employees

The scheme will work only if you can delegate or let go of some decision-making. Also, asynchronous work reduces waiting times and helps the team move faster. No need to wait for one message or call to move on with the project. The common mistake here is monitoring the tasks of the team members. It can develop a toxic environment.?

5. It isn’t suitable for everyone and that’s okay

Even in tech people can be office driven :) A lot of my colleagues described the great feeling of leaving work thoughts when the laptop shuts off. The rhythms of #asynchronous work don’t mean work is always on your mind. It is rather having sustainable work practices no matter when or how you want to dedicate effort.?

All in all, asynchronous work can boost the overall performance of a tech team but it needs to be done right. Without processes in place, documentation, and the right mindset it gets chaotic to say the least.

What do you think? Have you ever worked in an asynchronous environment?