Crossover ’s Post

Buffer is a fully remote company, but we don’t do asynchronous work first. We do async work, but we focus on synchronous work. First, what is async work? Async work is when you’re working on something and you don’t expect an immediate response from someone in that moment. This could be you working in a shared doc or making a video while you’re working for your teammate to see when they’re online later. A couple reasons why we don’t do async first: -We’ve seen that synchronous works helps with moving projects faster or helping with complex problems. If something comes up, it’s much easier to hash it out in a Zoom call. -As a remote team, we’re not seeing each other in person, so we feel like video calls help with creating face-to-face connections. Ultimately, our philosophy is to be flexible. We like to say “give flexibility to get flexibility.” This flexibility could mean joining a meeting at an awkward time because our teammates are in different timezones. On the other side, we have the flexibility to make our own schedule. If we want to work outside of traditional hours, or if we have something come up where we need to step away from the computer, that’s totally fine as well. We’re not expecting our teammates to be available at all hours of the day just because we focus on synchronous work first. We feel like we’ve found a really good balance between our async and sync work. How does your team handle async and sync communication? #remotework

Remote work is taking over and with it comes some challenges. Good thing we've got productivity and tech tools on our side! 💪 From video calls to automation, these tools are changing the game for remote teams. 🚀 Discover how they're revolutionizing the way we work! 💡 #remotework #productivitytools #techtrends https://lnkd.in/eRCQr5jA

💪🏼 Yes we can make remote work! 💪🏼 Yes we can find new ways of working that work for everyone. This article popped into my inbox this morning from the brilliant Corporate Rebels. My favourite tip from their article is: 💥 Emphasize writing: Reduce meetings by improving written communications. Clear, concise updates allow for smoother transitions and less back-and-forth. In teams I work with, I would estimate that communication (or lack of) causes 80% of their challenges. More effective communication reduces the needs for so many meetings, freeing up time to be more creative/innovative and balance other responsibilities - and crucially it frees us from restrictions of a 9-5 existence. What do you think about asynchronous and remote work? Do you love or hate the idea? https://lnkd.in/dNAqEZ2d

How to embrace asynchronous communication for remote work

Need help facilitating asynchronous work? 💻📝 This guide provides practical tips and strategies to effectively manage remote teams and boost productivity. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gyb_DiJB

We are a remote company, but we’re not async-first. Read on to learn why ⬇️ What is asynchronous (async) communication? It means that a discussion happens when it is convenient for participants. We feel we’ve found the right balance for synchronous and asynchronous communication for us during this current season of Buffer. When there are projects or situations that arise that either need to be resolved quickly or are quite complex and require input from several people, we’ve found it easier to jump on a Zoom call to hash it out. We also have many members of the team who haven’t met in person before, and the face-to-face reality of video calls and the ability to see facial expressions goes a long way in developing relationships. When async communication is the path to go, we use a few different tools. Primarily, we use a tool called Threads (not by Meta), for async discussions or for longer discussions. It’s great for having transparent cross-team communication, weighing decisions with several people, or sending longer updates. A lot of teammates also use video tools like Zight or Loom to record videos and share updates that way if they prefer a video format. Generally, Slack is used for real-time discussion, but we’ve found that Slack can be an async tool as long as we’re clear with expectations that we are not expecting people to reply immediately unless we explicitly say so or it’s an urgent matter. Ultimately, the idea for us is that we are a flexible team, and that includes how we meet and how we communicate. There are some meetings where you may need to be up earlier or later to attend — you need to be flexible. At the same time, there’s so much inherent flexibility in our roles at Buffer to create your schedule or hop on and offline when needed. We describe this as “give flexibility to get flexibility,” and it is a great summary of our approach to sync and async. Note that this does not mean that we expect teammates at their computers or available on Slack for all hours of the day. That’s rigidity, not flexibility. The same might not be right for every company, but this is what works well for our global team. Comment below and tell us how your team handles async and sync communication, or ask any questions related to how we work at Buffer. #remotework #async #remoteteam #asynchronous

That sounds like an interesting topic! Remote asynchronous work has become increasingly popular, especially with the rise of remote teams and distributed workforces. NeetoRecord seems to be a significant tool in facilitating this style of work. Thanks for sharing! #remoteworktools #productivitytool #loomalternative #goodread

What to do as “Remote Work” leads to “Asynchronous Work” As more companies, particularly smaller companies, learn to work with a remote workforce, talent pools are expanding across time zones. And in many cases, across many time zones around the world. Ultimately, I expect this to result in a large increase in the amount of asynchronous work.  Asynchronous work is notably different than simple remote work. There is, by definition, very limited real time communication. My team at AVUITY, largely works asynchronously and here is what works for us: 1. Embrace the right tools. Without being able to walk over and talk to someone or even pick up the phone and call, it is vital to have the right tools in our toolkit. Our team loves Loom as a way to talk through problems and give lots of context without hours of meetings. 2. Learn how to document your work. When your team is all independently working on great projects like ours, there needs to be a way to easily capture and memorialize what has happened and how others can learn from your work. We use Notion as a key platform for aggregation. 3. Set standards for communication. In an asynchronous world, it can be easy to feel like you always need to be online (because there is always a teammate online somewhere in the world who may want your help). We must set expectations early of what it means to be responsive and online. 4. Schedule Team Time. Just because your team isn’t online at the same time every day, it is still vital to build relationships through at least weekly touch points and ideally regular in-person events. Asynchronous work does not mean lonely work.   Much of the inspiration behind the way we work is from Levels Health and the fantastic writings and podcasting of Sam Corcos. I highly recommend using them as a case study of what is possible.

As a lab for distributed work, Dropbox approaches everything we build—from our culture to our products—through an experimental lens. And like any good lab, we understand that fostering a learning mindset is critical to ensuring we advance alongside the ever-changing world of work. Our Virtual First Toolkit is a product of that mindset. When we first introduced our Toolkit, the world looked quite different and full-scale remote work was in its earlier stages. Those first toolkits covered how to shift one’s mindset to a remote way of working with topics like time management, personal wellness, communication, and teamwork. Three years later, we’ve learned a tremendous amount from our Virtual First approach and have updated our Toolkit accordingly. It’s still full of practical, virtual-friendly exercises designed to bring simplicity and humanity to the workplace - no matter where that may be. But it has evolved as we continue to work asynchronously, collaborate remotely, and count on our use of digital tools to move work forward. I’m excited to share our latest Toolkit exercises that reflect the best practices we’ve learned through our research and employee feedback.  Here we provide tips on things like increasing focus through stronger writing, ending a meeting “well”, and my personal favorite, writing with brevity. The quote, “I would have written a shorter letter, but did not have the time” so accurately encapsulates the energy required to get to the point - critical in remote work where we rely heavily on asynchronous, written communication. As a Virtual First pioneer, we've evolved our company culture, workflows, products, and teams to fit a new way of working. Through continuous iteration, we're running on four successful years as a Virtual First company and we see these toolkits as guides, not only for our employees but also for other individuals and companies working in a distributed way. Check out our latest practices here: https://lnkd.in/eFqmiu7R Let me know which guide resonates most for your distributed work journey! #productivity #VirtualFirst #employeesuccess

Remote work is taking over and with it comes some challenges. Good thing we've got productivity and tech tools on our side! 💪 From video calls to automation, these tools are changing the game for remote teams. 🚀 Discover how they're revolutionizing the way we work! 💡 #remotework #productivitytools #techtrends https://lnkd.in/eEFK76iM