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The Async Encyclopedia — Practical wisdom for remote and distributed teams.
The Async Encyclopedia is a compendium of practical wisdom to help teams maximize their flow, focus, and collaborative powers. In it, we unpack the principles, policies, and processes of async collaboration, and offer solutions to the way work is done today.
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These are the questions every company is facing these days especially with the huge AirBNB announcement. Great to see a guide that brings it all together.
Thank you for sharing the jazz analogy @darryn_king great point about space and silence. "Asynchronous collaboration is the cool jazz in the world of work right now." - love this!!
Maker
@katie_scheuer Ha! Thank you Katie! And thank you to the Workplaceless crew for sharing your wisdom and insight! You are truly the Dave Brubecks of async.
@darryn_king1 what about career advancement in an async world? I've heard people are hesitant to adopt remote or async because they think it will impede their career trajectory- esp early on.
Maker
@deben5 The great thing about async — when done properly — is that truly excellent work gets noticed! It's not about weird office dynamics or who's at their desk the longest (possibly checking social media). I think that's a real positive for career advancement!
As for early career professionals, remote-first orgs basically need to do better at giving them the support and mentoring they need. Right now, it's one of our "unanswered questions of async" — we need to band together to find the answers! https://adanat4.dream.press/maga...
Maker
Hey there. I'm Darryn King, a journalist and writer and the Editor of The Async Review—where we share stories, resources, and wisdom around the ever evolving future of work.
I've been lucky enough to write for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, WIRED, and many more about whatever fascinates me most — from travel in Afghanistan to cyberpunk to Smash Mouth's "All Star." I joined Almanac to tackle probably my biggest subject yet: the way we work.
I've spent hundreds of hours over the last few months interviewing 50+ experts from GitLab, Remote, Slack, Workplaceless, and Doist about the future of work and, in particular, a new methodology of work: "async collaboration."
Time and time again, the most knowledgeable people in the field referred to async collaboration as a "superpower." I've come to realize it's more like an essential survival skill for modern work.
That's why we created this The Async Encyclopedia. https://almanac.io/magazine/the-...
Inside, we:
* Illuminate the historic shift from office-centric ways of working to a globally-connected, 21st-century model.
* Lay out all the principles, policies, and processes of async collaboration. How can you conduct shorter, more effective meetings, and fewer of them? What does async-first management look like? What about building connection? And recruiting and onboarding?
AMA! I'll be here all day to answer any questions you have on the future of work, how to get started with async collaboration, and other topics related to changing our relationship to work.
— Darryn at Almanac
https://almanac.io/
@darryn_king What's your favorite or most interesting async hot tip after doing the research?
Maker
@aepang There's this idea that remote work is isolating by its nature. ("Remote" work... It's in the name.) But remote-first, async-first teams can still provide a strong sense of connection and belonging! I love the idea of recognition rituals — creating little ways to let employees feel seen and appreciated. Like a #winwall in your chat app, or mini-awards ceremonies in your meetings. This is the sort of thing that lifts spirits, bonds a team, and incentivizes more good work.
@darryn_king I love that — remote work requires that level of intentionality, meaning good work isn't just assumed to be seen. Rather, peers and leaders have to bake it into their workflows and make it habit.
Polywork