Asynchronous communication

Do we really need another term for just.. communicating?

What is “asynch communication”?

Asynchronous communication is being able to hold discussions and make decisions to keep projects moving forward, without holding meetings where a group must be present.

Basically you’re working on a project that requires sustained coordination between stakeholders, without holding regular video meetings where everyone must be present at the same time.

It’s exactly what it sounds like – just working when you can. Start messaging over Slack or Teams and get the project started. If your team is driven and collaborative, you’ll find going async can help get more projects done, faster.

“Async” doesn’t mean less communication, but does require intention

Working without meetings doesn’t mean there’s less communication. Typically, there’s a burden for more comms because what would be normally done in a video meeting (like a visual update of progress) must now be pushed to stakeholders at a regular cadence and hope they all read + understand + take action without the accountability measure of looking directly into their eyes like a serial killer.

Real-time data is the goal, so anyone can click a link at anytime and view a project’s progress toward the goals. Even if you have this, your leadership is going to want some kind of weekly summary. Try to automate this.

Setting clear expectations is really what makes async work. Everyone is proactively responsible for their areas of ownership, and no one is just waiting around for the next meeting to get some work done.

Milestones MUST be celebrated

Positive reflection and anchoring is the only way to build confidence and momentum in someone with internal drive. Take the time to do shoutouts, send a private note, or share something positive on Linkedin.

How to do “asynch communication” well

1. Establish a proj-name channel on Slack or Teams for the project, and invite only the immediate stakeholders. You do not want too many cooks in the kitchen, unless you want a “child walks into a movie” scenario every other week. We love your ideas, Jim, but they’re 2 weeks too late. Fill out every detail of the channel: Purpose, description, and link to documentation.

2. Create clear documentation that includes a roles/responsibilities matrix (you may already be familiar with the RASCI model), background on the project, a timeline, milestones and objectives.

3. Translate this timeline into your project management software like Jira or Monday, and set all the tasks/milestones and assign them to the proper party. Often each project or OKR is organized under an epic.

   1. Create a progress dashboard and link it to the Slack channel so anyone can get real-time data.

4. Weekly, link an automated report on progress into the Slack channel.

   1. Important*: This is where you must provide an update on context. What is working? What isn’t? what are you going to do about it? This reflection and action, is what allows us to eliminate the meetings and still be successful asynch.

5. Create a psychologically safe space for people to disagree, propose improvements, learn from data, and make mistakes without repurcussions. This requires listening and getting out of the way. For asynch to work, your driven employees must push their own areas of responsibility forward.

6. If you’re in leadership or the CEO, speak to your whole company on a regular basis. Be present, visible, and positive.

When async comms go wrong

1. Dont use DMs. For asynch to work, people need to know what’s going on, and DMs start a confusing game of telephone that will eventually get distorted. Let your manager see what you are working on and how the sausage is made, and don’t be afraid to work in public - other people on your team have the same questions you do. If you use DMs, you lose valuable opportunities to passively teach others and get them up to speed on what you’re working on.

2. Don’t make it unsafe to share. If you don’t hold meetings, and Slack is not a psychologically safe place to share, then you will stifle innovation and people will start asking “what would my manager want?” instead of “what does the business need?”

3. Don’t eliminate all possibility of meeting. If you find yourself typing out a novel and figuring out the best way to phrase something, stop. Schedule an ad hoc standup with just the core stakeholders, look them in the eyes and share what you need to share like a human. Especially if it’s feedback.

4. Don’t place blame and don’t take credit. Take responsibility for anything going wrong, and give credit to others for everything going right. This window-mirror leadership principle will always lead to better trust between you and your employees.

5. Don’t be vague and don’t communicate less. “Asynch” can sometimes lead to projects going to a graveyard to die. Without a sponsor or the influence on others’ OKRs, sometimes asynch can be synonymous with “let’s kick this can down the road” or “this project is not as important”. If your company uses a scoring system to determine which OKRs get sponsored and meetings, and which get done “asynch”, you’ll want this to match up with their ICE score or probability score so you are making objective decisions about what requires more or less energy from the team.

6. Be consistent. If the whole company is asynch, great. But if you regularly hold meetings with only the VP of Customer Care, you will start to operate with an unconscious bias that this worker is doing more than the others, simply from bias of exposure. Understand when asynch is being used as your excuse to play favorites and ignore everyone else.

Is it async or asynch? No idea, but I used both just to switch things up. Thanks for reading!