Introduce the spectrum of synchronousness

We all tend to make binary judgements at times, settling for either of the two extremes on the spectrum. As we embark on any journey of change, it’s important to acknowledge that we may never be perfect but you and your team will get better with time. Asynchronous work’s central intentions are to build flexible, inclusive teams that value deep work.

Spectrum of synchronousness by James Stanier

Spectrum of synchronousness by James Stanier

James Stanier did all the hard work for us defining this spectrum in his book “Effective Remote Work”. I’ve just flipped the direction of his spectrum. You see, agile teams value the approach of “shifting left” when testing. The idea is to catch defects earlier in the development process.

As you go from right to left (in the image), you go from a fully synchronous medium to a fully asynchronous medium. And just as you don’t want to run an entire project just on a wiki, you don’t want to communicate only on video calls all the time. Communication methods on the right side of the spectrum are the ones I characterise as “temptation comms”. They are easy in the short term, but they have fewer long term benefits. As you traverse left, communications get tougher in the short term, but have longer term benefits - the kind we’ve discussed earlier. Let’s call them “investment comms”

“To fully embrace remote work, we need to shift our mindset and habits (on) the spectrum. Instead of choosing the convenient option, we need to choose to communicate in a way that enables an equal level of contribution from anyone, regardless of where they are in the world.”