Three unique features of [a]synchronous working

That organisational land is subject to trends is nothing new. Just think of the movements within project management in recent years: prince2, lean management, agile working. Or the emergence of organisational forms such as self-management and holacracy. The motivation is always to work (together) smarter, more efficiently and more effectively. That makes the core of these ways of working or organising not so essentially different. And yet there are important nuance differences in them. From Elemental, we signal the following movement: asynchronous working. How does asynchronous working differ from previous trends? 

[A]synchronous working

It may sound a bit complicated at first, but the principle is quite simple. When an organisation operates asynchronously, it means that not all work is done simultaneously. This is not an end in itself. You make a conscious decision per organisation, per team, per (external) collaboration, as to which joint tasks you tackle synchronously or asynchronously with each other. In this way, you can speed up your organisation more, serve your customers better, reduce travel time, increase employee happiness, and so on. You can read more about the advantages of asynchronous working in this blog.

Unique features 

Looking at other trends of recent years, [a]synchronous working is in the same vein. The goal is always to work (together) smarter, more efficiently and more effectively. And yet, we see [a]synchronous working as 'the next step'. We distinguish three unique features that all three now have momentum to break through within companies. We explain them below. 

1. Radically different approach to work

When asynchronous working is truly embraced, every employee has the opportunity to look critically at the arrangement of their working time. Are you more productive in the evening than in the morning? Do you want to be with your children every afternoon when they get out of school? Or do you look at the results you have committed to each week and divide your working week accordingly? Asynchronous working goes beyond starting an hour earlier to avoid traffic jams or making up the hour in the evening because you went to the dentist in the afternoon. 

It's also not about imitating an office workday when you work from home, but towards rearranging your team based on the type of work you are doing. For example, think of moments you reserve for 'deep work' or answering emails and phone calls. This also requires close coordination within teams, especially if, for example, you are jointly responsible for customer contact or other (time-related) services. It also requires us to create more time for moments like these. Instead of simply organising all meetings digitally now, we should think about what an optimal physical/digital working day looks like.

2. Relieving the environment

A key economic benefit of, for example, the 'New World of Work' trend of a few years ago was the reduction in travel costs once each employee chooses to work from home one day a week. Asynchronous working starts a much more fundamental conversation, namely drastically reducing CO2 emissions by reducing travel miles and congestion to improve the environment.

The ''Travelling differently' coalition is a great example here. Ever since 2015, this coalition, consisting of 50 large companies, has been working hard to halve CO2 emissions from business travel in the Netherlands. In their recent press release they argue that "now is the time to follow through and embed work independent of place and time into the new sustainable normal".

Another consequence of asynchronous working could be that companies decide not to maintain a physical office any more, but make much greater use of multiple, flexible office spaces. It would be a logical consequence of the call that, for example Facebook did to its employees to work permanently remotely. In this way, companies make more efficient and conscious use of space, which has a beneficial effect on the environment.

3. Inclusive organisational culture

Asynchronous working goes hand in hand with asynchronous communication. With asynchronous communication, you give the other person the opportunity to respond at the time (and place) when it suits them best. You respect each other's time and focus. Organisation-wide topics are best communicated asynchronously, so that employees working from home feel as involved as those working from the office. Everyone receives information in the same way and of the same type and has equal opportunities to respond to it. In short, asynchronous communication is a more inclusive form. Extra important now that we won't all be allowed to go to the office at the same time in the near future. So how do we ensure that home workers don't feel left out?

Delegation A great example is Basecamp. They have created a communication guide with 30 rules of thumb. One of these principles shows the power of asynchronous communication: cards

Speaking only helps who's in the room, writing helps everyone. This includes people who couldn't make it, or future employees who join years from now.

Asynchronous working has the same cause as previous trends in (collaborative) work and organisational forms, but also has characteristics in which it is actually unique. There is momentum to take a radically different approach to work, take serious action to reduce environmental impact and increasingly strive for a more inclusive organisational culture. Which companies will lead the way in this and set an example?