Hi! Welcome to the world remote work and asynchronous communication. It's great to have you.
The fact that you're reading this (and I'm typing this) whenever we want is a great demonstration of how remote async work...works!
In this fellowship specifically, we're working on open-source with people from all over the world (and different timezones). Most open source maintainers have no boss and work on their own schedule. Some contribute after work, and some work just when they feel like it. This is pretty different from how a typical company operates.
While open source is a unique case where this workstyle is popular, it's not entirely new. Before COVID, the world was already largely relying on async communication (see the 60% stat below). What's really novel however, is the move to remote work.
In a study conducted by Condeco Software, 41% of global businesses surveyed say they already offer some degree of remote working, while 60% provide flextime opportunities that allow employees to choose when to start and end their workday.
You might have heard of async communication, or remote work but what is async remote? Well, it's a combination of both qualities.
You already have experience with async communication (like email and google docs), but you might not have worked remotely before. The combination of these two can be quite different!
The biggest thing to note in a remote async world, you have no "forceful" sync option. For example, in an office, if someone doesn't reply you can go poke them. In this world, you have no other option but to wait.
For starters, here's what "synchronous" and "asynchronous" mean in regards to collaboration:
- sync - Two or more people exchange information in real-time. In most workplaces communication happens that way and people expect real-time responses.
- async - The exchange of data between two or more parties without the requirement for all the recipients to respond immediately.
- office - Allows you to "bump" into someone, chat verbally, etc.
- remote - Intentional interaction, reach out, text based.
Let's take a look at some more comparisons in practice:
| Sync Office | Async Remote |
|---|---|
| Office Space | Work From Home |
| Meeting Rooms | Video Calls |
| Sitting near a team member | Team based Chat |
| Watercooler Conversation | Topic Based Chat |
| Tapping someone on the shoulder | Direct Messaging |
Have you noticed that voice-memo apps have never caught on? Think about how annoying it is to listen to voice-mail. Text is just better for some things:
- Reading is faster than "listening"
- Allows for search
- Allows us to represent
codeliterally - Scalable
- Revisable, collaborative. Just look at this doc!
Of course, there's no substitute for the tone that a voice or video call provides. We are human after all!
Since we're communicating in text anyway, one of the biggest benefits is scalability. By writing this document, I can send it to any number of people. Text is a broadcast medium by default.
You should always take advantage of the scalability of text when you can. Share articles you write, share notes you take, post your git logs in your chat.
So, where do you go from here? There's a whole lot to learn about this workstyle. I've included some links here that will help you become familiar with these different workstyles and how to thrive in them.
Imagine you're blocked on waiting for someone to respond. You can add "follow up with x" to a "todo" manager app so you can free your mind to work on something else.
And in another case, you might find yourself unproductive at home. Below are some articles on how to better manage your time.