Pros and Cons of Asynchronous Working: a Talkr Perspective

Summary: Most of us may already be communicating asynchronously with our colleagues, especially those working in different time zones. Asynchronous work schedules are not new to Talkr and here we wanted to share our views and the advantages and disadvantages that come with such a schedule. 

Even though the term asynchronous work became popular only recently, it is not as new as it seems. Asynchronous communication model refers to communication that doesn’t need to happen in real-time, like a back and forth chat in a meeting, but is designed to allow responses at times when it is most productive for those involved. 

Although remote work often involves a lot of asynchronous communication, these two terms are definitely different. Most remote-first companies have policies that mean an employee should be logged in and active during an established set of hours, while asynchronous work allows employees to work during times when they are available (which might be different from that of their colleagues).   

Is flexible work the same as asynchronous work? 

Well, to some extent the terms could be interchangeable, but they are not the same. We could say that flexibility a lot of times means that one gets to operate asynchronously, but that usually refers to communication - because you do communicate with the team, but it’s not a real-time conversation. 

Pros of asynchronous working:

The positive side of asynchronous work is that it gives autonomy to employees. They get to plan their day according to times when they feel they are most productive or just juggle seamlessly between home and work responsibilities.  

There’s also no interruption of daily tasks, as employees are not expected to reply in the same instant.  

Employees are less reliant on meetings as asynchronous schedules give them more time to pre-plan, execute and focus on follow ups. This can also reduce meeting fatigue as they can receive recorded versions of meetings or just have updates in written form.  

Asynchronous work can also prove effective for new starters because most things are documented in written form and this gives them the opportunity to catch up and get in the game faster, by reading through guidelines and examples of former practices.  

Cons of asynchronous working:

One of the downsides of having an asynchronous work schedule is that employees often cannot put a straight line between work and home. This kind of schedule might often cause them to feel disconnected or even lonely. 

Another issue that might arise is miscommunication as most of the time conversations take place via chat or are generally in written form. It is hard to express emotions or know how the other side is feeling or reacts to a certain situation via Skype, Slack or email.  

Asynchronous work is and should be based on a lot of trust. Lack of trust might lead to micromanagement and cause detriment to the employer-employee relationship. It’s implementation requires a lot of changes both in company culture and company norms, which is never easy and takes a lot of time.