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- your team doesn't always need to be on
your team doesn't always need to be on
why async communication is the fix and how to actually get it right
👋 Welcome back to All Things Remote: weekly tips for building a better remote team.
In today's send:
✅ Why most remote teams are doing async wrong
✅ The always-on trap and what it's actually costing you
✅ What good async communication looks like in practice
Top reads this week
The complete guide to async communication for remote teams
The case for deep work and how to actually protect your focus time
What remote workers are saying about wellbeing & flexibility
FYI:
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When most remote teams say they "use async communication," what they often mean is they use Slack instead of having a meeting. Which is a start, except that Slack, when left unchecked, becomes just as interruptive as an open-plan office!
If your team is expected to respond to messages within minutes, check their notifications every half hour, and be ok with sending a message at 9pm without thinking twice…
Then I’m afraid to tell you that you haven't built an async culture; you've just moved the office to everyone's phones… 🤷
The always-on trap
Around 65% of employees feel compelled to stay always-on and remote workers are disproportionately affected. Without the physical boundary of leaving an office, the working day has no natural end.
The cost is real.
Context switching is one of the biggest drains on productivity in remote teams. The average worker takes over 20 minutes to regain deep focus after an interruption.
Multiply that by dozens of pings a day and you can see why getting things done feels so hard.
The problem isn't the tools, it’s the expectation that people should always be available.
Why adding more structure isn't the fix