Productive and Happy Remote Teams Communicate Asynchronously
Have you ever wished the following for yourself and your team?
- Producing low-quality work
- Wasting more time
- Feeling stressed and overwhelmed
Probably not.
If you work in a synchronous manner with your team, chances are that your environment produces those negative consequences. Despite what we commonly call “productivity killers”, real-time collaboration is the norm. Traditional teams working out of an office, as well as remote companies based in specific time zones, communicate synchronously.
There is an alternative: asynchronous communication. Simply put, asynchronous communication means exchanging with your team members without expecting an immediate response. It may sound intimidating, but it can be used at different degrees. There are a few tricks that you can try with your team, to give everyone more time and freedom in how they organize their workday.
We will tackle four contradictions often encountered in traditional work environments. For each, I will share an alternative method and tool your team can use:
Alternative Method 📚
Making a change in the way your team works.
Alternative Tool 🧰
We’ll use the example of Twist, an alternative to Slack. When writing this article, I had the chance to speak to Lucile Foroni, Product at Doist (the company who makes Twist). I asked for her advice on making the transition to a more focused work environment.
Contradiction #1: We value quantity over quality of communication
Have you ever logged off Slack for an hour, and came back to a long thread, thinking this conversation could have been condensed in a few well-written messages?
Let’s say, you want to explain what blockchain is to your friends (who have to listen to you, because you’re friends). Will your explanation be more structured if you prepare for it, or if you jump right into the talk? The same applies to written communication.
Alternative Method 📚
Establish communication guidelines, to help maintain a quality of communication. This can hold in a few bullet points, or be more involved like at Zapier, a remote tech company, who has a Slack Etiquette.
Alternative Tool 🧰
Slack is not the only option. Lucile Foroni works in the Product team at Doist. They are the builders of Twist, a communication app designed for asynchronous communication. She believes that the tool should help the users communicating differently:
In our team, we have succinct guidelines. Having too many rules might lead to people forgetting them.
Twist is designed to encourage users to think their words through. The main mode of communication in Twist is done in threads. A thread has a title, and it looks closer to a post. It encourages users to share a longer form and proofread content, rather than sharing a quick thought or question
Contradiction #2: It’s ok if my team cannot deeply focus on their tasks
“Tac-tac-tac” It’s me, the Slackbot. I offer a variety of enjoyment to distract all your senses.
Discover and enjoy:
- My instant sound notifications
- My instant visual notifications
- And the nec plus ultra: the expectations we commonly set as a group that, if it’s between 9–5, you should be answering right away.
Alternative Method📚
Create a work environment that does not require your team to be reachable at any time. Schedule time slots for deep work. Coined by Cal Newport, deep work is about dedicating time with no distractions to do your work with focus.
This is easier said than done! For tips on the method, I encourage you to read Cal Newport’s best-seller book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. You can also read this Guide to Deep Work by Doist.
Alternative Tool 🧰
In Twist, there is no expectation for the team members to jump at any new post because it is not expected of them to answer right away. But it is good to set an expected reply time. In Lucile’s team, it’s around 24 hours. It does not have to be that long to start with! Lucile recommends:
Start small, close Twist, and focus on a specific task for two hours.
Chances are, nothing will have burnt off while you’re off producing quality work.
Contradiction #3: It’s fine to always feel behind
One of many uncool facts about me: I wrote a short horror story, called Corporate Demon:
A dedicated team lead becomes the target of the Slackbot. The bot gone bad starts deleting information, sending messages on her behalf, and eventually materializes to try taking over the world.
Pretty bad, huh? I might be digressing, but really, Slack does not trigger the best feelings in me. It triggers some stressful expectations:
I have to be available at all times because people might need me now.
I have to answer now, if not I will have no say in the decision made.
Alternative Method📚
Defining what success means in your team. Are you a good employee if you have the fastest reply rate, or if you consistently deliver high-quality work? This needs to be driven by your team’s leadership and discussed with the team.
Alternative Tool 🧰
A non-disruptive tool gives a lot of freedom. It does not mean no rules can be set.
Lucile’s team has a few guidelines they follow:
- Posting a weekly update every Monday
- Answering to a message within 24 hours
- If you see a red flag anywhere… raise it!
Contradiction #4: It’s ok to waste time looking for information
Have you ever found yourself frantically typing words to find something buried deep into Slack?
Instant replies can lead to a giant mess: irrelevant or contradictory pieces of information, wrong or misleading terminology makes it hard to retrieve team knowledge...
Alternative Method📚
Being more thoughtful with our use of words, and valuing a thoughtful written communication as a team. We’re not all born writers; find ways to help your team members develop this valuable skill.
Alternative Tool🧰
If there is an expectation to write a clear, descriptive title, it makes it easier to look for content related to this topic. In Twist, you can filter your search results by thread titles.
How does your team collaborate?
If you’re new to this, remember that you don’t have to commit to changes right away.
Try it out slowly, and ask for your team’s feedback along the way. If you’re part of a team working mostly async, do you have any tips to share?
A big thank you to Lucile Foroni for her time and valuable advice!
You can learn more about Twist on their website. Twist is built by Doist. If you’re looking for resources on remote and asynchronous, head to the gold mine that is the Doist’s blog.
