Asynchronous work unlocks productivity

​​With the emergence of new normal for work – more people are discovering the concept of asynchronous work. Is it the future of employment?

A vast majority of companies are implementing distributed work. And most employees are working from different locations, if not different parts of the world. This is where asynchronous work comes into play, says Kenzo Fong is the founder and CEO of Rock, a multipurpose messaging app. He said work is asynchronous when it happens for different people on their own time. “Consider a worker in London and one in Los Angeles. Based on a 9-5 work culture, they would have only a few hours to collaborate and work together. With an asynchronous work style, work becomes more like a relay race where one could set tasks and deadlines for the other without the expectation to respond right away.” he said. 

Wider talent pool

He suggests that this way, work gets done on time, people are less stressed, and it allows for a wider talent pool. With an asynchronous work style, companies can hire literally from anywhere in any time zone and are not limited by geography.

Unproductivity happens only because companies force employees to follow the same schedule no matter where they are in the world. He continues saying that company culture needs to change with the times and accept and adapt to distributed work.

Fong said learning to balance synchronous and asynchronous communication should be simple for teams of all sizes with new tools. He said the management styles should be revisited and be tweaked here and there to cater to employees. 

“We have to rethink how we work—and allow people to work when and where they please, as long as they contribute.” he said.

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