Async Fridays at Typeform
Unlocking Productivity and Focus
The last thing I do every night before I go to bed is check my calendar. What time is my first meeting? How many meetings do I have tomorrow? Did I remember to block out my lunch time? And more importantly — did people respect the lunch time slot?
When I joined Typeform as a Director of Engineering a year ago, I had already been working remotely since the start of the pandemic, and for the last three years, my work days have been dominated by meetings. Even prior to that, I’d grown quite accustomed to meeting-filled days in an office or online, having worked for global companies for the past decade. However, since Typeform is a fully remote company, meetings play a central role in shaping my work life.
When my son was younger, he told his teacher that “mum talks on the phone all day.” Though he omitted the “for work”’ part, his overall description of my job was pretty accurate. And to be honest, that worked for me because I’m a people person who thrives on connection.
Remote Connections
During onboarding, my manager Gordon Pretorius, CTO, had put together a list of people he wanted me to introduce myself to. I readily agreed, while also explaining that I needed to prioritize meeting with each and every engineer on my team. I believe a large part of my role as a leader is to enable my teams to be as successful as they possibly can. In order to do this I need to understand what they need help with. So, I set up two meetings with every engineer — one to introduce myself, explain what I was hoping to achieve, and ask them to reflect on areas where they wanted my help. Our second follow-up meeting offered them a time to share those pain points with me.
Slowly but surely, the number of meetings increased. In the absence of the opportunity to introduce myself in person, ask a question by walking over to someone’s desk, or get an update when bumping into a colleague while going about my day, I began throwing meeting after meeting on the calendar. Sure, I could (and do) reach out to people via Slack, but oftentimes, I default to a meeting to connect and align more quickly. It’s a slippery slope, and before I knew it, I was back-to-back for hours upon hours.
Unsurprisingly, the themes that surfaced in the follow-up sessions with my engineers overwhelmingly reflected what I was experiencing — too many meetings!
Ebbs & Flows
Having started my career as a developer, I could empathize with them. There is a zone you get into when you’re plugged in, and the code is flowing — but then you have a meeting. There is literally nothing worse. You lose momentum, and though you may go straight back to the code after your meeting, that zone, that vibe, the flow — it’s gone, and it’s hard to get back.
I spoke to my Engineering Managers and suggested that they bundle meetings for their engineers. For example, if they have a daily stand-up and planning session on the same day, do them together. I also suggested trying to keep mornings meeting free. These were small changes that had a big impact.
But I didn’t take my own advice. My own calendar and the calendars of my peers were all full. In fact, at this point, in July 2022, I was getting slightly panicked about my to-do list. I had all this amazing feedback from my intro meetings with the engineers and no time to document and share it. I was talking to my husband about a week later, sharing insights I gained from the team as well as my own frustration about having no time to do the admin side of the task. He suggested booking some time out in my calendar. Great idea. I gave Gordon a heads-up, and he was supportive. So, I booked out my Friday morning, and it worked like a charm. I made a dent in the to-do list, and I had a sense of achievement.
My Eureka Moment
I started doing more research. MIT Sloan’s article on The Surprising Impact of Meeting-Free Days grabbed my attention. This article — Implementing no meeting days increases productivity — also made me sit up and take notice. Everything I read said the same thing: “‘Zoom fatigue” is real, and a no-meeting day is a good thing. Autonomy, communication, engagement, and satisfaction all improve at companies who have adopted this practice, resulting in decreased micromanagement and stress, which ultimately causes productivity to rise.
I started to put together a document to support my case. I hadn’t worked for Gordon for long, maybe two months at this point, so I really wasn’t sure how he would react to my proposal of a meeting-free day for Technology. What I now know is that Gordon is the best kind of leader. He is open to new ideas, trusting, supportive, and has a fantastic mantra of “safe enough to try.” He agreed that this was an idea worth trying.
Small Changes, Big Impact
When we first shared that the Technology team was moving to Async Fridays there was a mixed response from the rest of the company. A fair concern was “What if I need to talk to someone in Technology on a Friday?” and “What about productivity?”…the list went on. We quickly allayed any fears and once again embraced the “safe enough to try” mantra. We’re blocking our calendars, not moving to Mars ;) We of course remained available for emergencies, but it also served as a great way to truly assess the meaning of “urgent.” It didn’t take long before it was a non-issue, the rest of the company respected the fact that Technology are not available for meetings on a Friday.
Still skeptical? We do have tangible metrics that highlight the positive impact of Async Fridays. For instance, we’ve observed that more pull requests (PRs) are submitted on a Friday than on any other day of the week. This shows us that we are providing developers dedicated time and focus to review and contribute to code changes. Fridays are also when we see a surge in new documents, playbook updates, and pending reviews being processed.
Stats Don’t Lie
Carving out uninterrupted time for tasks that require deep focus and can’t be done between meetings means more is getting done with less stress. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a step in the right direction and gets the team (and managers) to really understand the value and importance of deep work time.
Async Fridays empower our team members to accomplish more work and drive progress on crucial projects. It’s a testament to the transformative effect of providing dedicated time for deep work, fostering efficiency, and enhancing the overall quality of our deliverables.
Here we are one year later, and the Typeform Technology team is loving their Async Fridays, all while driving incredible impact. But don’t just take it from me:
“Async Fridays empower me to dive into deep work, free from distractions, and achieve more than before. It’s a game-changer for my productivity and focus.”
- Cesar, Engineer
“Friday mornings begin with a feeling of serenity as I head to my sunny home office for a day of total concentration! When coding, meetings make you easily lose focus. With no distractions, I can immerse myself fully in a work session or a personal development course and end the week on a productive note.”
-Coralie, Engineer
“Async Fridays have been an opportunity for me to really do deep focused work, my to-do list never ever falls over from week to week, and my body clock knows it’s coming because I wake up feeling super productive. It also affords me some time to learn and grow by reading a variety of articles or even courses. As a result, I’m a better, more engaged partner and father on weekends because I don’t have anything floating around in my head”
- Shane, Engineering Manager
“Async Fridays are not a day off but a day ON. A day to focus on my work without interruptions or distractions. A day to take stock, reflect on challenges and plan the next steps and the following week. Additionally, they’re an opportunity to ensure I can start the weekend with an uncluttered mind and I can focus on recharging for the next week.”
- Stefan, Director of Engineering
“Async Fridays have become a bit of a ritual for me. I start earlier, head down to my local coffee shop, put on some headphones, and during those hours, I feel I get more done than most of my week combined. And best of all, it’s guilt-free as everyone is doing the same ;)”
- Gordon, CTO
The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Now, other areas of the company are following our lead; Product, Design, and Marketing are embracing their own “Focus Fridays.”
If you are considering introducing a meeting-free day, do it. You won’t regret it, and your teams will thank you. You will thank you.
And yes, as you have probably guessed, I am writing this on a Friday. When else would I have the time?
