The virtues of asynchronous work
Daniel Jiménez of Spanish-language site Haz Magazine emailed me some questions a few days ago for an article on asynchronous work (pdf).
Company cultures that offer employees more autonomy, combining face-to-face models with distributed work based on a less supervised relationship, and instead focusing on healthier approaches is increasingly a key factor for companies looking to attract and retain talent. Logically, people with sought-after skills are more likely to want to work for outfits that allow them greater freedom in exchange for assuming greater responsibility for their work. Correspondingly, companies that do not offer these models will find it harder to attract talent. A negative permanence bias that, logically, ends up affecting an organisation’s competitiveness.
Asynchronous work may not be appropriate for all companies, jobs, or workers, but there are a great many situations where it does work. Companies that reject the idea are living in the 19th century, when bosses believed they had to be on top of the workforce at all times. In today’s world, nobody wants to work for an organization they don’t feel trusts them.
