Why Managers Fear Asynchronous Work (And Why They Shouldn’t)
<p>I’ve been a fan of async work ever since I’ve heard of it, and I just <a href="https://medium.com/@marisamerces/the-9-to-5-flaw-and-why-async-is-the-way-3f27c9ed878e" rel="noopener">wrote recently about how I believe it’s the best solution</a> to improve both productivity (which I’m a big fan of) and employee engagement.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>So I really want to address the elephant in the room: what’s holding managers back?</p>
<h2>The Control Freak Syndrome</h2>
<p>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”.</p>
<p> Reality Check: Research generally shows that remote workers are as productive, if not more so, than their in-office counterparts. For example, a <a href="https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/a-2-year-stanford-study-shows-astonishing-productivity-boost-of-working-from-home.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">two-year Stanford study found a 13% increase in productivity</a> among remote workers.</p>
<h2>“But What About Team Chats?”</h2>
<p>Ah, the age-old fear that if we’re not all online at the same time, communication will crumble.</p>
<p> Reality Check: Asynchronous communication tools like Slack have features that can help maintain the quality of communication. For instance, <a href="https://slack.com/help/articles/115000769927-Use-threads-to-organize-discussions-" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Slack’s threading feature</a> allows for organized, topic-specific discussions that team members can engage with on their own time.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@marisamerces/why-managers-fear-asynchronous-work-and-why-they-shouldnt-1e58d38e5172"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>