Async agile 1.0, is distributed agile 2.0!
This blog expands on the ideas from “The Async-First Playbook”. You can either browse through the posts using the grid below, or start at the very beginning. Alternatively, use the search bar below to find content across the site.
Feedback? Why bother?
In a psychologically safe workplace, people share feedback freely. But when feedback lands on deaf ears, it fosters feedback fatigue.
The survivorship bias in company stories
Survivorship, or selection bias when telling company stories, promotes an echo chamber, where the organisation becomes blind to its inadequacies.
Embrace agility, not fragility
The agile movement was about freeing developers from the baggage of Dilbertesque corporations. But in the 2020s, “doing agile” often comes at the cost of agility. Teams and companies sacrifice common-sense at the altar of a hustle culture, that looks agile, but is far from the spirit of the movement.
How company cultures go rotten
When we leave cultural characteristics open to interpretation, we run the risk of creating toxic cultures. The loudest voices usually undermine diversity. It makes more sense for distributed organisations to do the boring work of defining culture. It isn’t as sexy as a secret sauce, but writing things up fosters a consistent and healthy culture.
Don't let group chat become a toxic time sink
Group chat can be both a helpful tool and a distraction in the workplace. While suitable for quick exchanges and simple information sharing, it falls short for more important discussions and tasks.
Cohesion at work through prosociality
Can random acts of unsolicited kindness bring us together at work? Let’s find out in this post.
Our workplaces have a masculinity bias
The world of work has a toxic masculinity bias. In this post I share some thoughts about such biases.
No, that’s not culture
If you’re calling your culture a “secret sauce”, or your “x-factor”, you’re doing little to clarify it. To demonstrate care for culture, means that we must define it clearly, at the level of behaviours. We must move beyond platitudes and poetic expressions.
In 2023, don't disrupt yourselves
With their return-to-office (RTO) strategies, I see many IT firms take a passive-aggressive stance with their people. This, I fear, can be disruptive, in an industry where people matter most.
Beg for forgiveness, don't ask for permission
If decisions are the fuel for high-performing teams, a permissions culture is its kryptonite. In this post I discuss three areas you must focus on, so your team can maintain a high decision velocity.
Offices in the cloud are just a bad idea
I notice that some teams, organisations and products are attempting to recreate an office in the cloud. This is a counterproductive trend. In this post I explain why being async-first is a better idea.
It's urgent? So what?
Constant urgency is the enemy of deep work and an async-first culture. Often this means getting on meetings, and being ok with days full of IM interruptions. With enough of these “urgent” tasks, even the most motivated teams can slip back into their old, synchronous ways of working. In this post, I explain techniques to deal with urgency.
Don't let your virtual workplace become toxic
Every work model has its pitfalls. It’s not as if a remote workplace can’t go south. In today’s post I want to explore some anti-patterns I’ve seen in remote-first and “hybrid” organisations that can make your workplace toxic. When you know of these possibilities ahead of time, you’ll be able to pre-empt them and put the right guardrails in place for your team.
4 environment variables to make your async agile team successful
In today’s post, I want to address four sets of factors that’ll affect your team’s productivity and happiness. As a leader, you’ll to address these factors using your judgement, experience and vision. Your choices will influence your new async agile team’s behaviour.
Foster a motivating environment for async agile
One sign of a healthy culture is that people feel motivated by the work they do. Yes, there’ll be good days and bad, but on the whole you want your people to enjoy the work they do. In today’s post, I want to examine autonomy, mastery and purpose as factors that help you create a motivating environment for the people you work with.
Create a culture for asynchronous work to thrive
As a leader, you’re responsible for much more than the mechanics of work. Depending on the size of your company you’re a custodian of culture, or the one who defines it, or someone in between. In today’s post, I want to share with you how you can foster a culture that supports async agile.
5 plays to cast your votes for an async culture
Aside from introducing async practices and plays on your team, you need to vote with your behaviour for an asynchronous work culture. Otherwise it’ll all feel like lip service. So in today’s post I have five ideas for you to implement as an individual, so you can broadcast how committed you are to an asynchronous way of working. Each of these is easy as they get. You can get started today itself!