Async isn’t just for remote teams. It’s for better teams

Asynchronous work is often treated as a remote-only tactic, something distributed teams have to use because they don’t share a timezone.

However, that mindset undersells its value. Async isn’t a fallback for teams who can’t meet. It’s a strategic advantage for teams who want to think more clearly, collaborate more effectively, and reclaim focus.

When implemented intentionally, async communication reduces burnout, improves decision-making and builds a healthier, more equitable culture, regardless of whether you’re remote, hybrid or sitting five metres apart.

In this article, we’ll break down:

• Why async is bigger than remote
• The foundations of a healthy async culture
• How to avoid the traps that make async feel slow
• How to balance async with human connection

If your team struggles with noise, interruptions, slow decisions or unclear ownership, async is essential.

Why async matters for every team

Most teams today operate in environments shaped by constant notifications, crowded calendars and fractured focus. 

Whether you’re remote, hybrid or office-based, the problem is the same: interruptions destroy flow.

The average worker loses hours each week to context switching, and this fragmented attention shows up in slower projects, shallow decisions and increased burnout. 

Microsoft survey data shows that focus time is often fragmented for employees.

Many people have two natural performance spikes each day, but they are often filled with meetings, leaving little room for focused work.

Async combats that by replacing interruption-driven communication with intentional, documented, expectation-led communication.

Async isn’t about location. It’s about reducing chaos and enabling deep work.

Async is a strategic choice

Many teams treat async as the lesser option, something you do when real-time isn’t possible. 

That thinking misses the point though, as async actually strengthens quality:

• It gives people time to think before responding
• It limits knee-jerk decisions
• It reveals clearer reasoning and better documentation
• It reduces performative urgency
• It creates traceable decisions

This isn’t just productivity theory. GitLab, one of the world’s largest all-remote companies, explicitly credits async and documentation as core to its operational excellence and scale.

Even co-located teams benefit from these practices, because async removes pressure to respond instantly and replaces assumptions with clarity.

Async is intentional. It creates better decisions by design.

Clear expectations are the foundation

Async fails when expectations aren’t shared. Without norms, teams guess, and guessed communication is always inconsistent.

Every team needs alignment on three things:

Response times

Set pragmatic, realistic windows, such as:

• 24 hours for general updates
• Same day for blockers
• Specific agreed cadence for projects (e.g., twice-weekly check-ins)

Ownership

Every message should make ownership clear:

• Who needs to act
• What they’re responsible for
• When they need to respond

Format

Define simple templates that reduce ambiguity, such as:

• Context
• Action needed
• Deadline or next step

This cuts out ambiguity and stops progress being derailed by unnecessary follow-ups.

Async works when teams know what’s expected and why.

Over-document, don’t over-message

Async only works when information lasts longer than the message that delivered it. 

Fast teams often fall into the trap of over-messaging with quick pings, scattered updates, and fragmented threads that feel productive in the moment but create long-term confusion. 

Documentation is the opposite: it slows the work down just enough to speed everything else up.

Good documentation is not bureaucracy. It’s a lightweight habit that replaces memory with clarity.

The goal is simple: write things once so no one needs to ask twice.

When decisions, plans and updates live in a shared, accessible place, teams stay aligned without chasing each other.

A strong async documentation culture includes:

• Clear decision logs that outline what was agreed and why
• Short project briefs before work begins
• Written updates on progress at predictable intervals
• A maintained knowledge base for repeatable processes
• Links to context rather than rewritten explanations

McKinsey estimates that employees spend nearly 20% of their week searching for information they should already have access to. Documenting decisions dramatically reduces this waste.

Choose the right tools

Most async failures are caused by tools being used in ways they were never designed for. Teams install new apps, plug in integrations and pride themselves on a modern stack, but still struggle with alignment or visibility.

Tools only help when they mirror the team’s actual workflow.

In practice, this means first defining how work should move through your organisation. Then you choose tools that support planning, execution, updates, feedback and storage, instead of forcing everything into a single app.

For example:

• Use Notion, Confluence or Coda for long-form decisions, documentation and persistent knowledge.
• Use Asana, ClickUp or Linear for project progress and task handoff.
• Use Loom for quick walkthroughs that replace meetings but retain nuance.
• Use Slab or an internal wiki for onboarding material and repeatable processes.

The mistake most teams make? Using a fast-paced chat tool as a catch-all.

When Slack becomes a substitute for email, documentation, decision-making and huddles, everything turns into noise. Information disappears within hours.

A healthier approach is to divide your tools into three buckets:

1. Now. Quick alignment (chat)
2. Next. Tasks and priorities (project tools)
3. Forever. Decisions, knowledge and context (documentation tools)

This makes async feel natural rather than forced and prevents your team from living in the wrong place.

Make async inclusive and accessible

Async communication is one of the most equitable ways to work but only when it’s intentionally inclusive. The biggest benefit of async is that it gives people choice: when to respond, how to communicate, and the pace at which they process information.

That flexibility only works when the environment supports everyone.

Teams today span time zones, languages, energy levels, neurodiverse working styles and personal responsibilities. Async provides breathing room — but only if you design for clarity and accessibility.

This means:

• Using plain English and removing unnecessary jargon
• Structuring messages with headings or short sections
• Offering transcripts or summaries for video or audio updates
• Avoiding urgent by default communication styles
• Letting people respond in the format that suits them (text, video, screenshot, commentary)
• Creating norms around delayed responses so quieter contributors don’t feel penalised

GitLab’s communication handbook, used by a team stretched across 60+ countries, is a powerful example of how inclusivity strengthens async culture. Their emphasis on clarity and transparency ensures everyone has equal access to information regardless of geography or processing style.

Async also reduces unintentional bias. People who prefer thinking time, people who aren’t native speakers, and people who thrive in quieter conditions can all contribute with equal weight.

Inclusive async isn’t a bonus feature. It’s what makes the model sustainable, especially for growing teams.

Balance async with human connection

Async doesn’t replace human interaction. It enhances it by ensuring meetings serve real purpose.

Healthy teams use async to reduce unnecessary meetings, not to eliminate all of them. Keep synchronous time for:

• Emotional topics
• Complex problem-solving
• 1:1s
• Onboarding
• Celebrations and team bonding

Async gives space for thought. Real-time communication strengthens relationships. The balance makes teams resilient.

And when teams operate across time zones or distributed schedules, shared ownership becomes even more important. This is where equitable incentives matter.

Employee share schemes keep everyone working towards the same outcomes, regardless of when or where they work.

Async and connection aren’t opposites. They’re complementary forces.

Summary

Async isn’t a workaround for remote teams. It’s a strategic, focus-driven way of working that supports clarity, autonomy and better decisions.

To get it right:

• Set clear expectations
• Write better, not more
• Choose tools that support your workflows
• Make processes inclusive
• Balance async with real human connection

If you’re scaling geographically, cross-functionally or simply in headcount, building an async culture gives you adaptability without chaos.

And if you want to reinforce alignment across a distributed team, performance-based equity can help people feel genuinely invested in the company’s success, wherever they work.

Book a call with Vestd to explore how share schemes can support your async-first culture.