How to be an effective async communicator

Your day starts with a series of back-to-back meetings. You’ve barely had time to finish your morning coffee, let alone settle into your workday rhythm. By the time the final "anything else to add?" is reluctantly answered, your energy is drained. You end the meeting and, before you can look at your to-do list, the chat alerts start.

Do you have a collaboration problem?

Did just reading that last paragraph give you a sense of frustration? According to Harvard Business Review, you and most of your colleagues can relate. Modern "office" workers — that includes home offices! — reportedly spend about 80% of their days either in meetings or responding to coworkers’ questions.

It is unbelievably easy to schedule a meeting with a colleague or drop them a quick note asking for information or help. And collaboration is a good thing: companies need to eliminate information silos and work cross-functionally in order to be effective and successful. However, with an increase in remote and distributed teams and the ease our communication tech stacks have made it to connect with coworkers, most companies are collaborating inefficiently.

When all of our time is stuck in 30-minute meetings that could have been a five-minute chat or refocusing between instant messages, we have little time left to actually get work done. Not only does job performance go down, but it can lead to burnout and unhappiness as employees struggle to keep up with work.

Why switch to async communication?

Those unnecessary meetings, protracted discussions, and inefficient communication can be replaced by async communication. Let’s explore why organizations, especially those that rely on high productivity and precise knowledge sharing, should adopt an async strategy.

Decrease idle salary expense

Never is the saying "Time is money?" truer than in the world of business. Asynchronous meetings are a boon for any organization looking to decrease idle salary expense. By eliminating the need for team members to wait around for each other's responses or sitting in a meeting simply to gather info or contribute minimally, everyone can contribute in their own time. This, in turn, allows individuals to dedicate their working hours more efficiently.

Goodbye, information silos

Asynchronous communication is an excellent antidote to information silos. It empowers knowledge sharing across departments, ensuring everyone's on the same page, regardless of their location or schedule.

Beat the competition

The business world is a battlefield. To outpace your competitors, your team must be agile, informed, and efficient. Async communication facilitates these company traits by fostering a more inclusive, flexible, and streamlined work environment.

Mastering asynchronous meetings: tips & strategies

Asynchronous meetings aren't about replacing real-time meetings completely. Instead, they supplement them, filling in the gaps that may exist due to time zone differences, varying work schedules, or just a plain old desire to work uninterrupted for a while. Here are a few tips to ace asynchronous meetings:

1. Clear and concise messaging: Since you don't have the luxury of instant feedback or clarification. This lack of immediate response makes it crucial to send clear and concise messages. Any ambiguity can lead to misinterpretations and further complications.
2. Embrace a collaborative platform: Remember, you’re not eliminating collaboration. You’re collaborating more smartly! Implementing a collaborative platform, like Rewatch, provides a shared space for your team to collaborate, communicate, and share resources. It combines all your communication and collaboration needs into a single, easy-to-navigate platform.
3. Leverage AI-driven meeting summaries: With Rewatch's AI-driven meeting summaries, you can quickly recap meetings without having to go through hours of recorded discussions.
4. Use video for better engagement: In an asynchronous environment, maintaining engagement can be challenging. Creative screen and camera recording features of can enhance knowledge sharing.
5. Create an information repository: A centralized video hub can help in seamless information sharing and reduce information silos. It also gives the entire team instant and long-term access to the information.

Mastering asynchronous communication is all about clarity, collaboration, inclusivity, and efficient use of resources. When done right, it could be your golden ticket to reducing idle salary expense and boosting productivity.

Rethink how you work

Nailing async communication and making the most of asynchronous meetings requires a shift in mindset. But, with a platform like Rewatch, you're equipped with purpose-built, easy-to-use enterprise-grade features that eliminate meetings while increasing productivity and knowledge sharing.