The ultimate guide to asynchronous meetings & remote comms |

Before the transition to remote work I was employed in a remote team at a digital bank that was always trying out different kinds of remote meeting that were mixed, and they normally went pretty smoothly.

However, it's not always straightforward to boost efficiency or ensure effective communications in remote meetings or decide on what type of meeting you want to hold in the first place.

This guide (based upon some of the research conducted and personal experience) will help you understand the various types of remote meetings and the best ways you can effectively run them, by using some tricks and tips, choosing the right equipment for your needs, as well as the common rules for virtual meeting conduct.

Types of remote meetings

It's possible that you didn't give it much thought before however, there's actually various types of remote meeting types (and you're probably already somewhat familiar with them). As technology advances within this field We've now been able to connect with remote employees and team members by using either of the following main methods or even a combination of them!

Teleconferencing

From all kinds of remote meeting we'll speak about here, teleconferencing is possibly the oldest and most tested technique. Being audio-only phone calls, the technology for it is a lot older and less complicated than those on the list.

The hosting host will be on the line' during the time of the meeting, after which other team members will 'dial in' using a phone number. Naturally, this kind of meeting is best suited for a small group of participants. Not being able to see the other members could be confusing if multiple people talk simultaneously.

Video conferencing

From the time of the outbreak of a certain pandemic in 2020 Video conferencing has now become an integral part of our work lives thanks to the likes of Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams.

Video meetings (conferences) have a similar structure to teleconferencing. It's that the host hosts an actual-time conference where attendees 'dial in' using an online link or telephone number. One of the main differences, of course, is the ability to communicate with each other, and also use software to make the video calls more efficient and more engaging.

Web conferencing

The third and final most popular type of virtual meeting is web-based conferencing. It's simple to mix this one up with videoconferencing, but there's a distinct difference- web conferences are often utilized for virtual meetings (like all-hands gatherings) as well as online training or for project collaboration, where the meeting has the benefit of a practical aspect to it.

Naturally, this is great for larger-scale projects or business-wide meetings and may be setup in a similar method to video conferences, or it can require pre-registration and ticketed attendance.

To add another layer to various meeting formats Additionally, you have the option to'sync' or 'async' meetings.

What is an asynchronous meeting?

Asynch meetings are a type of interaction that isn't in real-time, and doesn't normally require an immediate response.

Synchronous communication vs asynchronous communication

In the digital banking job I previously mentioned the team worked extremely difficult to ensure that the employees who were remote felt at ease as well as part of the decision-making process as well as checking-ins, status updates and team building events. In order to achieve this, they had to make use of Asynchronous and Synchronous gatherings, however each of them has their pros and cons.

 Advantages of synchronous meeting:

• It is the closest thing to in-person meeting.
• Instant feedback on actions items or discussion points.
• Real-time communication can help you bounce ideas off each other more quickly.

 What's not so great:

• Most of the time you will meet individuals that are quiet, or introverted, but struggle to be a part of the group.
• On the other hand in the event that everyone has something interesting to talk about, the gathering can quickly become a hot chaos of individuals speaking in a snarky manner.
• There's a risk of technological delays or network faults when you need it the most.

 The benefits of asynchronous meeting:

• When there's no pressure to communicate immediately, nearly everybody has the chance to have your voice to be heard.
• Not having to line up the right times to meet that were distributed globally or with night shift team members (something my old workplace benefitted tremendously).

 What's not great about HTML0:

• In Buffer's 2020 state of Remote Work report the survey found that 20% of participants said loneliness was their biggest problem (which I also can attest to) Meetings that sync are the chance for you to "see" other people, so moving to asynchronous comm can add to feelings of isolation.
• If an immediate response isn't needed, sometimes team members might forget to take action or respond completely.
• A common issue with remote work, according the Statista and also applicable to meetings that are async (since they may be going back and forth throughout working hours) is not being able unplug.

From a broader perspective, when looking at both the advantages and disadvantages, it's a matter of selecting the best method for your event rather than going with either of the extreme. But, I'll be focusing more on async-based meetings starting from now (since they're not as well known).

How to run a productive asynchronous meeting

Now that you've figured out what types of remote meetings there are as well as different ways to go about them, but how do conduct an actual Asynchronous Meeting? It's an issue for those who are experienced with having meetings in real time.

As I have no personal experience with conducting meetings (only taking part in these) I reached out to a few experts, including the former Project Manager, who later became freelance writer Laura Bosco, what they thought made for efficient and productive meeting asynchronously. Here's her response:

 "--the context and structure of the async message were huge factors in my experience and are still a major factor in my interactions with my clients.

Context: Some kinds of feedback, announcements, or even questions can be more sensitive or easily misinterpreted. Video is better than text because someone else can hear your tone and be able to see your face. It reduces misperceptions and relationships damage.

Format: Big fan of BLUF (bottom-line-up-front) in most written comms. For one, it's more effective. If your request is concise and concise, you're more likely to get the answer you want. It's also an opportunity to show empathy for the recipient. You show appreciation for their time and daily influx of messages.

 In addition, there is text formatting. Bullets, headers, bold or italics for key requests...these aren't meant to degrade the reader. They assist them to digest your messages ."

Laura isn't the only one who believes that providing context is the most effective way to use async communication. Michael Steele, CEO of Flywheel Digital (a remote-first technical marketing agency), who is an enthusiastic user of Notion, Google Docs, and Slack as their technology stack. Also, he mentioned:

 "A big key to success when it comes to synchronous communications, which includes staff and customers is the ability to give the context. Everybody involved needs to understand the purpose of communication, recent events or changes of note, and have the ability to access important documents, such as strategy sheets such as marketing personas, strategies, and the performance reports.

 Without context in asynchronous communications, miscommunications can occur and time is wasted fixing mistakes and making revisions that could have been easily made without the proper details available from the very beginning."

Regarding the operational aspect of managing meetings, the founder of ScrapingBee (a 100% remote company) Kevin Sahin says that aside from having quick real-time meeting using memos created in Notion and Slack, they also utilize Slack:

"Slack can be used as asynchronously as it uses Slack status to find out if our coworker is available to talk or not. When we send a message within Slack and we do not expect to receive a response immediately. That's the whole point. Our general approach is to select the right tools for the job."

To run an efficient asynchronous conference, you need to make sure you're using tools that are properly designed, and provide context and the points you're covering will be done in a way that's simple and quick to deal with.

9 tips for planning and executing the perfect remote conference

Whether your remote meeting is synchronous or asynchronous however, there are a some general guidelines to help them run more smoothly. These tips are derived from the research that is already in place however others stem from experience. They will be discussed in a before as well as after style for those who prefer real-time, but the content of these tips can be applied to meetings that are async.

 Prior to the gathering:

1. Be sure that only those who are essential can be invited. If you overcrowd a virtual meeting such as video conferences or a Slack channel or a video conference, details can quickly get lost and fewer individuals will be able fully participate.
   
2. Set a crystal clear agenda. You can set agendas for either real-time or async-based meetings using any software you prefer When I worked in the bank, we developed Notion templates that had fill-in sections like issues we're facing and actions points.
   
3. Create meeting guidelines. Laura also mentioned her favorite strategy to implement, which is to create and then share "how to work with me" document ( like this one) for helping set standards and expectations for meetings as well as other forms of communication.

 During the session:

1. Start and finish within the timeframe. This point is especially true for real-time remote meetings. It's anything worse than showing up at a meeting early or overrunning. Time is of utmost importance to people. It's also true for meetings that are scheduled in async. If you do not respond in a reasonably timely way, your information could be lost, or deadlines could be lost.
   
2. Make it brief. Similar to the previous point, there's not much point in having an hour-long meeting in real-time in the event that you could make all the points you need to make using async communications or smaller meetings. As for async, you should avoid writing large pages of text, or making long interspersed pauses on recorded videos.
   
3. It is important to ensure that every person can be heard or recognized. As I mentioned previously, not everyone is the temperament that allows them to express their opinion in live conversations, async comms gives those people the opportunity to speak up. As the manager or as a host It's important to be vigilant about the participation of members.

 Following the meeting:

1. Gather feedback from participants. If you're experimenting in different gatherings, you must gather feedback from your participants so you can find out what is and isn't working regarding the communication style and the channel. Different software may work better in different situations.
   
2. Create a method of follow-up communication. Generally speaking, it's best to create a way to communicate or a virtual area where people can offer specific points regarding the meeting or updates regarding action items without cluttering up the actual meetings.
   

If you're thinking now, "those tips are all great and well, but what about applications?", this next section will help you.

Software to facilitate remote meetings

Of course, one important aspect to consider when conducting remote meetings of any kind is making sure you have the right tech for the meeting to begin with. Naturally, for synchronous meetings the most well-known videoconferencing solutions such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams/Skype, and Google Meet do the trick fairly well, but it's quite different when it comes to synchronous meetings.

The most popular Asynchronous Meeting Software (which can also be generally project management tools) as well as some that are already mentioned are:

•   Slack
•   Trello
•   Google Docs
•   Asana
•   Notion
•   Basecamp
• If you're part of a group of devs, Gitlab or Github are great options.

The right software for your virtual meeting

A majority of the tools for collaboration I've mentioned above are purely text-based or for messaging and other collaboration tools may be made up of images, text or video. Also, as Laura said earlier, context and format is crucial.

 For simple project updates

If you're looking to get people up to speed on what your project situation is like, apps such as Trello, Asana, and Notion can be great to do this. For example I (and my previous workplace) utilize Notion "boards" to give overviews of current statuses for projects as well as a way to dive in to read comments.

The same "board" style of organization in all the apps mentioned above.

 For continuous updates

If your project or team must be simple to get in touch with but doesn't require daily meetings in person The majority of the apps mentioned are okay, Basecamp in particular is excellent, however Slack tops the list on this particular aspect.

My old job had each team would have their own Slack channel in which they could have basically asynchronous stand-ups, while there were also company-wide channels for more general discussions. Naturally, I do not have access to this particular Slack workspace, however I do have several Slack workspaces I use similarly:

 for more complicated or sensitive data

As Laura stated, certain types of information require a greater human interaction. You don't want to have details that are misinterpreted or lost among all the posts and projects. In order to avoid that, you'll need to utilize video. And has your back.

In addition it is possible to track who has viewed your videos and participate on the comment section.

It's not always easy to determine the best software or technique to choose since every team has its own unique approach, so it's worth experimenting early on and never being afraid to switch gears if one does not work out as you would like it to.

The remote playbook: etiquette to conduct virtual meetings

The final topic to cover in this guide is the etiquette of meetings. A few of the points may be familiar to those who have been through the topics we've covered previously, but it's worth summarizing the most common manners of meeting at a remote location look like.

In synchronous meetings, we've been on a lot of Zoom calls to know the general guidelines (and sometimes, we've erred in breaking them):

• Make sure you're not talking on mute while you're speaking.
• Find a quiet spot to allow other guests to focus on the conversation (not your washing machine running in the background).
• Try out the features that you wish to implement before deciding to avoid wasting time figuring it out at the time of discussion.

The situation, however, is somewhat different when you consider Asynchronous meetings. The rules of engagement can be different based on the channel or method of the communication.

For channels that use text (e.g. Notion, Slack etc.)

• Keep on-topic information in the appropriate channel/thread/page (or in the event that you're discussing anything of importance, post the link to that thread or page).
• You shouldn't view it as an email. By that I mean acknowledge a message or a task instead of leaving the message within the inbox (in Slack, you can sign a message by using an emoji! ).
• Take note that other people also have personal lives. If you're using asynchronous communications is easy to forget that people might not be doing the same thing as you. Find out if anyone is available prior to making a push message to them.

 for synchronous video conferences

• Be sure that the camera and microphone are good enough for others to be able to grasp what you're talking about.
• Have a clear takeaway you want to impart to others -- no one is looking to watch the same video for hours and not know something new.

These are not a set of general suggestions. The company you work for may have its specific rules of communication to each other, and which technology to use. If so, it is possible to keep these to mind when learning how to use them or creating these rules.

Start off with a great beginning with online meetings

As with the majority of relationships in our lives Effective communication is most important factor in a successful business day however, communication does not necessarily need to be actual time.

Remote meetings that are synchronous can assist you in having more productive discussions, bring in more of your team members as well as create a culture that is open and transparent (since the asynchronous comms are automatically documentable). If you're contemplating adopting a more asynchronous approach try experimenting with various tools to find out what works for you.