Asynchronicity and Remote Working

Asynchronicity. Fantastic word, and a crucial concept in communication and engagement with a remote workforce.

A great twitter thread (https://twitter.com/chris_herd/status/1313202750818312192) detailed lots of learnings re: remote working. Lots to learn. For me, one key challenge.

We know that synchronous comms, requiring presence/response at fixed times, are grossly inefficient.
There are many channels that can be used asynchronously, allowing more reflection, collaboration and control of when you respond.

But, we have bad habits, reinforced by notifications. We enjoy the notification buzz (I'm needed!); we respond urgently. When we all respond to everything urgently, it keeps coming.

THE CHALLENGE: If you keep responding around the rest of your life, without the structure – physical and temporal – of the office, you suffer.

So, synchronous communication must be used solely for two purposes:
1) For the genuinely urgent – where people must listen and respond
2) For the emotional or social – where people are brought together, and again there’s a new emphasis here
 

Remote working is staying. So, for everything else - that’s a lot of everything - it’s time to break habits, use new channels or old channels differently, with a focus on the written word. We must allow people to respond – better – on their own terms.