Asynchronous workflows are a remote team’s superpower. I’ve covered the basics on understanding the concept and leveraging it to reduce Zoom fatigue, but what happens when the people you collaborate with work for a different company? What if they’ve never heard of async, or have been conditioned to work synchronously by default?
Every organization has their own norms, but you can politely challenge the status quo by seeking to inform and educate. Even if you have established asynchronous work within your own team, it can be challenging and sometimes uncomfortable to encourage async practices when working with people outside of your company.
Here's how to approach working async with external parties.
- Start synchronously: Have a sync call to kick off a project or partnership. During that call, mention that you'd like to incorporate some asynchronous work into the project moving forward. If you use this call to build relationships and rapport, your async work will be more efficient.
- Set expectations and model behavior: Discuss up front how you will work async together (what tools you'll use, what to document, and how often). Agree on a cadence for any future syncs so that everyone knows what to expect. Be sure that you model this behavior throughout the project or partnership.
- Share async documentation: Send your company handbook page or documentation about async to people you're working with externally. This way, anyone unfamiliar with working this way can refer to the page and share it with others. This showing process could be the epiphany your peer has been waiting for.
Some organizations still may not be open to working asynchronously, so it's important to remain flexible, particularly in a client-facing role.
READ: The Value of Asychronous Communication and How to Embrace It
Be Transparent about Boundaries
Whether you're communicating with a coworker or someone external to the company, it's helpful to be transparent about the boundaries you've set for your mental health, wellbeing, and life outside of work.
This is especially impactful for managers and leaders, because it normalizes the conversation around mental health and sets an example for others on the team. If you're invited to a sync meeting that you can contribute to asynchronously, this can be as simple as one line added to an email response.
"I'm intentionally limiting my sync sessions in 2021 to prioritize wellbeing and family. Thanks for understanding."
WEBINAR: Future of Work = Be Human Centric + Learning and Unlearning in the Flow of Work
At GitLab, we aim for boring solutions. Sometimes, it’s as simple as asking. Most folks assume that booking time on a calendar is the preferred way to engage, as the notion of working asynchronously has only recently begun to spread. A simple, graceful request to do things differently could be the catalyst for a significant workflow change and invites productive conversation at the intersection of work and wellbeing.
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