Asynchronous working results in highly productive remote teams

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

Since asynchronous workflows are what unlock the magic of productive remote work, learning to communicate well asynchronously is a GREAT skill to acquire!

Here are 4 components of a great asynchronous message:

Enough information to cover all follow-up questions
(Don’t let yourself be the victim of an open loop; over-communicate if necessary.)

A deadline
(When do you need a response by? How urgent is it? Which task is being blocked right now?)

Links, images, and as much supporting material as possible
(Keep all permanent task-related material [inside Trello cards for example], so whenever you talk about tasks you can link to to that which should contain all relevant information.)

A concrete need
(What do you want to get out of the communication? Approval on a task? An asset of some kind? Be extremely clear.)

(Source: The Complete Guide to Asynchronous Communication in Remote Teams )

How asynchronous is your team?