With modern technology, it’s easier than ever to get distracted during or outside work hours. Messaging apps and emails can get in the way of achieving your daily goals, even when your team members are working remotely. That’s why many companies are switching to Asynchronous work schedules to streamline workflows while reducing unnecessary management hours.
Here, we discuss some of the ways asynchronous work patterns boost employee productivity and integrate smoothly with remote work as part of global expansion plans. We also discuss effective points to remember if you are considering switching to this work style.
Introducing Asynchronous Work
Asynchronous work, also known as async, is an adaptive work strategy in which employees work at their own pace and more independently. Rather than working to meet deadlines or work around scheduled meetings, in an async workplace, employees focus on their goals in their own way.
This is most apparent in how async employees don’t expect immediate responses from colleagues to messages or emails. Instead, communication happens as it makes sense to each individual’s work time or process.
It is a new work and management style, requiring a new way of organizing employee and employer relationships. It’s particularly convenient for companies wanting a robust global presence. For example, this would mean that team members in Canada and Cambodia work and communicate as needed with their colleagues but wouldn’t expect responses to calls or emails until a more opportune time.
In an async environment, workers can complete their goals during their regular workday and enjoy a better work-life balance. The company then also benefits from round-the-clock engagement.
One thing to note, this strategy may not be suitable for every company. While many are already seeing the potential advantages it can bring to their efficiency and opportunities going forward, it’s essential to consider whether it’s the right move for you.
If you are ready to move to async, we have included a list of ways, below, that global HR outsourcing providers can offer the perfect tools to help.
How Can Companies Benefit from Async Work Strategies?
1. Streamlined Communication
With more straightforward ideas about how time zones will affect the sending and receiving of information, employees and employers should be able to predict communication flows better.
At the same time, without feeling obliged to respond to messages immediately, the overall amount of time spent communicating is reduced, increasing the amount of time spent on deliverables. This is particularly useful for those working outside the office who may find themselves nearly twice as affected by time lost to meetings.
2. More Productive Work Hours
Because workers will be able to determine when and how they achieve goals, they can set aside more dedicated hours for deeper concentration on tasks.
This change fundamentally improves the ability of employees to think critically about their work without interruption.
3. Flexibility
When not being relied upon by teammates or other parts of the workflow chain being available for meetings or consultation, employees can approach tasks when and how they like.
Greater individual flexibility improves work-life balance and a project’s overall speed in terms of adaptability.
4. Employee Independence
An employee is most engaged when they feel that they are responsible for a task without a manager being able to interrupt or take over at any point.
By putting workers in charge of when and how they complete tasks, they’re more likely to approach a problem in a way that best suits their work style. This is especially true for employees who may not thrive in a collaborative environment.
5. Employee Satisfaction
Setting their own hours and pace means employees can work in a way that best fits their lifestyle.
This type of work also integrates seamlessly with other modern work styles, such as WFH (Work From Home), giving employees even better opportunities for work-life balance.
5 Potential Complications and How You Can Avoid Them
1. Management Disconnect
Integrating this management style into a company will rely heavily on an employer’s ability to trust employees and resist the urge to micro-manage.
It can be challenging to make the best use of asynchronous work if managers feel they are being left out of crucial decision-making moments.It can also lead to problems with employer confidence, such as in the case of Proximity Bias. So, finding the right amount of communication that works for you is necessary to keep everyone in the loop without negating the benefits integral to this methodology.
2. Deadlines
Async work requires managers to be more proactive in providing clear, attainable targets that match project deadlines.
Setting workable deadlines also requires more upfront preparation, particularly for long-term goals.
3. Fewer Opportunities for Collaboration
Some employees may work better than others in collaborative settings, and the isolation entailed by async can be difficult for these workers.
If an employee feels they are missing essential information or requires feedback to move on, make sure that there are other ways to move forward in-between opportunities for communication. Satisfying every worker type may also mean prioritizing remaining in-person meetings, such as an annual all-hands.
4. Greater Pressure on Employees
Managers will have to take a more direct role in separating tasks that suit individuals and ensuring that workloads and goals are attainable.
To support managers during problem-solving, a company must prioritize an open environment where problems are shared as necessary most efficiently.
This includes recognizing the possibility that some more critical tasks or problems will always require immediate attention.
5. Misinterpretation
Instead, teammates should be encouraged to overcommunicate in their messages to give their colleagues as much clarity as possible.
This method may even improve how employees communicate with each other and customers as they practice key communication skills daily.
3 Quick Tips for How to Effectively Manage the Transition to Asynchronous Work
1. Make sure that managers lead by example during the transition. By modeling the right behaviors, employers and managers can show that the system works and give employees the confidence to build their own workflows.
Include all levels in the transition process
2. Adjust as needed. It might not be possible to go completely asynchronous all at once. It may never be the best idea, given your company’s specific needs or situation. Instead, take the time to consider ways that employee independence can be increased slowly over time or reined in during times of particular difficulty.
Take the time to do it properly and consider middle steps like new meeting types, such as problem-solving meetings that can be held less frequently.
3. Find ways to boost communication skills. Even if asynchronous isn’t right for your company now, communication is vital, and the benefits of upskilling team communication strategies are possible for every company.
Training sessions for communication strategies can also be a way for employees to feel a sense of continued connection. However, be careful that they don’t become ways for employees to discuss unrelated issues they may be having.
Consider seeking outside guidance to run training sessions and boost engagement with new methodologies.
INS Global: Your Preferred Provider of Innovative Work Strategies in 2023
INS Global is a leading technology-based provider of PEO (Professional Employer Organization), EOR (Employer of Record), and worldwide recruitment outsourcing services to more than 80 countries.
With teams of experts internationally, we are ideally placed to help you get started with your plans for global expansion. Whether it’s integrating your payroll and benefits management into a single globally compliant system or finding ways to hire or transfer employees to new target markets, we have the tools and knowledge you need to succeed quickly and securely.
Contact our global mobility advisors today to learn more about how INS can get your employees started overseas in as little as 48 hours.
