I’ve been a fan of async work ever since I’ve heard of it, and I just wrote recently about how I believe it’s the best solution to improve both productivity (which I’m a big fan of) and employee engagement.
But async is not an option for a lot of people (the majority of them, I believe) and not only because of the job they do, but mostly because of their managers.
So I really want to address the elephant in the room: what’s holding managers back?
The Control Freak Syndrome
You know them: Managers who think if they can’t see you, you’re probably slacking off. The “you’re only productive if I can see you”.
Reality Check: Research generally shows that remote workers are as productive, if not more so, than their in-office counterparts. For example, a two-year Stanford study found a 13% increase in productivity among remote workers.
“But What About Team Chats?”
Ah, the age-old fear that if we’re not all online at the same time, communication will crumble.
Reality Check: Asynchronous communication tools like Slack have features that can help maintain the quality of communication. For instance, Slack’s threading feature allows for organized, topic-specific discussions that team members can engage with on their own time.