Being physically present in an office at the same time as your entire department or team is beneficial in many ways, but in a post-COVID world, teams are quickly discovering a new path into asynchronous work.
Asynchronous literally means “not at the same time,” which can seem odd at first when talking about work days. How could it make sense to have people working at different times, when the opposite has always been the norm?
When practiced along with remote or hybrid work, asynchronous work can do wonders for employees’ work ethic and mental health. It allows people to work and complete tasks in the timeframe that works best for them, regardless of the time of day. That doesn’t mean no deadlines – rather, it marks deadlines as the finish line to the race, but doesn’t require the same exact route, as long as everyone reaches that finish line on time.
Asynchronous work eliminates those dreaded meetings that could have just been an email. It avoids wasting peoples’ time spent on calls that are irrelevant to them, because the only meetings that are held are planned because they’re absolutely necessary for a team to sync up and speak in person. This allows employees to be fully present when it’s necessary to sync up, but then allow uninterrupted concentration while working at their own pace throughout the rest of their days.
Another huge aspect of async work is the hottest topic of 2021: employee retention. If your work environment is asynchronous and flexible, your chances of keeping employees on your team, even when their life situations change, are raised considerably. You are now able to retain employees who require a change to their daily life and work, like moving to a different time zone, having a baby, changes with their partner’s job situation, doctor’s appointments, et cetera. Working with your team’s schedules will allow them to continue working with you, rather than feeling the need to change workplaces to accommodate their lives.
To make a long story short, asynchronous work can bring a more stress-free work style to your team, as well as making it easier for you to retain employees going through expected changes in life. If you have a remote team, consider working with software like Teamwork or Notion, that allows commenting and viewing of work that can be accessed at any time, rather than everyone having to collaborate all together at specific times.
Give your team the greatest gift you can – time!