Asynchronous work is often essential for teams, especially when they’re spread out over multiple time zones. But it can also lead to delays, uneven workloads, and pressure to work outside of one’s scheduled hours. Here are our tips for making asynchronous work smooth and effective:
- Establish workflows and deadlines so everyone knows when they can expect to have work on their plate, when they should wait their turn, and when they need to have their tasks completed. Communicate any changes right away.
- Regularly touch base with employees about their workloads and any concerns they have about feeling rushed, having too little to do while waiting for others, bottlenecks, or other inefficiencies. Adjust workflows as needed.
- Standardize expected response times so employees know how soon after receiving a message they need to respond. These times can vary for different methods of communication or levels of urgency, but be careful not to make the standards too complicated. The more variation you have, the less likely employees are to remember them.
- Be clear about when employees are expected to respond (or not respond) to messages outside their normal hours. This is particularly important for nonexempt employees who must be paid for any work they do, including reading and responding to company communication outside their usual workday.
- Make employee time zones and working hours visible in communication apps and shared calendars so employees know when to reach out or expect a response from one another.
- Establish consistent practices for using project management and online tools designed for asynchronous work, such a guidelines around when to tag or not tag individuals in conversations.
- Ensure leaders model these practices so everyone understands their importance.
This Q&A does not constitute legal advice and does not address state or local law.
Recent Comments