In today’s highly competitive business environment, teams are expected to develop and ship products faster—and better—than ever before. While, traditionally, Agile teams relied heavily on in-person, synchronous work to get the job done, this approach has its drawbacks.
Synchronous work and communication require in-person and/or real-time communication between two or more people. Whether that’s getting together for a stand-up planning meeting at the office, or jumping on a phone call to hash out new product requirements, synchronous work means team members are always dependent on another person before they can complete work. And that can result in costly delays and lower productivity and output overall.
However, with the rise in remote work and improved technology and collaboration tools, teams are better equipped than ever before to operate asynchronously.
In this article, we’ll cover what asynchronous planning is and how you can use it to accelerate your project pipeline, increase agility, and maximize efficiency from start to ship.
What is asynchronous planning?
Project management and development don’t happen in a vacuum. Agile teams are by nature, cross-functional groups that rely on one another to complete tasks and requirements within their spheres of responsibility throughout the product development lifecycle.
Traditionally, Agile teams have approached product development synchronously—planning products in person, communicating via instant messaging or regular meetings, and completing tasks in bulk phases one after the other. But this keeps the team dependent on each person and stage that comes before and has the potential to slow down development.
Asynchronous planning is a way to get things done with fewer interruptions, greater efficiency, and higher output. Whereas synchronous work is conducted in bulk phases, one after the other, asynchronous planning breaks down those phases into smaller tasks divided among a cross-functional team focused on releasing minimum viable changes as often as possible. This results in more frequent shipping of smaller releases.
3 keys to successful asynchronous planning
Asynchronous planning doesn’t happen overnight. To be successful, you need to build the right foundation.
Asynchronous planning relies on:
Multiplexing
Multiplexing means doing tasks together that reinforce one another for better, faster results. For example, taking notes while having a conversation—while you could do both separately, the two tasks complement each other, leading to better results.
So how does this apply to asynchronous planning?
In an asynchronous work setting, multiplexing is all about batching smaller tasks for a quicker release. This allows you to not only ship faster, but also validate your product, measure success, and adapt to feedback more quickly and nimbly.
Multiplexing through async work also means you can allocate your resources more efficiently because you’re focusing on more tasks on a smaller scale. By reducing your task scope, you can more accurately manage resources and estimate needs compared to larger batches of work.
Communication
Asynchronous communication is crucial for successful asynchronous planning and development. Communicating asynchronously empowers you and your team to work on their own time at their own pace (within a given timeline).
In today’s always-on culture, an immediate response is often expected when it comes to communication. But by adopting an asynchronous approach when possible, team members are able to focus on deep work for longer periods of time and get the work done when they are most productive—whether that’s at 9AM or 3PM or 10PM.
Of course, you need clear standards and expectations in place for the best results. Work with your team to ensure everyone contributes to and supports:
- Robust documentation
- Clear, written procedures
- Boundaries on interruption-free work windows
These best practices will provide the foundation you need for effective asynchronous communication on your team.
