The ultimate guide to Asynchronous Meetings and Remote Communications |

Before the transition to remote work I was employed as part of a remote team at an online bank. We were always trying out different kinds of remote meeting that were mixed, and they normally went pretty well.

However, it's not always simple to increase efficiency or ensure effective communication in remote meetings, or to even determine what kind of meeting you want to hold in the first place.

This article (based on some research and personal knowledge) will assist you in understanding the different types of meetings that can be conducted remotely, and how you can effectively run them, by using some tricks and tips using the appropriate equipment for your needs, plus common virtual meeting etiquette.

The types of remote meetings

It's possible that you didn't give it much thought before, but there are actually numerous types of remote meetings (and you're probably already somewhat acquainted with these). With greater tech advancement within this field We've now been able to connect with remote employees and other team members with the help of one or more of these primary methods or the combination of these methods!

Teleconferencing

Of all the types of remote meetings that we'll be talking about in this article, teleconferencing probably the most tried-and-tested old-school technique. Being audio-only phone calls, the technology for it is a lot older and less complicated than the others in this list.

It is basically that the hosting host will be on the phone's line at a specific meeting time, at which point others in the group will be able to 'dial in' using a phone number. Naturally, this kind of gathering is ideal for small groups of attendees. However, not having the ability to view the other members could be confusing in the event that multiple individuals are speaking simultaneously.

Video conferencing

Since the onset of a specific pandemic around 2020 video conferencing has been an integral part aspects of our lives, thanks to programs like Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams.

Video conferences (conferences) follow a similar pattern to teleconferencing, in that a host organizes an actual-time conference where attendees  dial in using an online link or telephone number. The key difference however, is that participants can be able to see one another and utilize software to make the video conference more efficient and engaging.

Web conferencing

Lastly, the third most common virtual meeting type is web conference. It is easy to mix this one up with video conferencing, however there's a distinct differenceweb conferences are usually used to host virtual events (like all-hands meetings), online training, or project collaboration where meetings have the benefit of a practical aspect to it.

Naturally, this is great for larger-scale projects or large-scale business meetings. They could be set up in a similar manner to a videoconference, or it can need pre-registration or ticketed attendance.

For a further layer of different meeting types Additionally, you have the option to'sync meeting', or async.

What is an asynchronous meeting?

Asynch-based meetings are one type of interaction that isn't in real-time, and doesn't normally require an immediate response.

Synchronous communication vs asynchronous communication

In the digital banking job I previously mentioned They always worked at making sure that employees who were remote felt at ease as well as part of the decision-making process, status updates, check-ins, as well as team building activities. In order to achieve this, they needed to use both synchronous and asynchronous meetings. However, each of them has its pros and cons.

 Benefits of synchronous meetings:

• Most closely resembles in-person meetings.
• Immediate feedback on action issues or discussions.
• The ability to communicate in real time can help you share ideas more quickly.

 The downside:

• Most of the time you will meet individuals who tend to be quiet or introverted who struggle to be a part of the group.
• But when everybody has something to say, the meeting will quickly be a chaotic swarm of people talking about each other.
• The risk is that you will experience technological delay or network issues when you need it the most.

 Benefits of asynchronous meetings:

• If there's no pressure to communicate immediately, nearly everyone has a chance to allow their voice to be heard.
• It was easier to arrange suitable times for meetings that were distributed globally or with night group members on shifts (something my old workplace benefitted tremendously).

 The downside:

• Based on Buffer's State of Remote Work report the survey found that 20% of participants claimed that loneliness was their main struggle (which I can also attest) Sync meetings provide your chance to 'see' others, and so switching to asynchronous comm can add to the feeling of loneliness.
• If a quick response isn't needed, sometimes team members might forget to take action or respond altogether.
• A common issue with remote work, according the Statista that also applies for async-based meetings (since they may be going in and out throughout the day) is the inability unplug.

In the end, looking at both the advantages and disadvantages, it's a matter of selecting the best format for the occasion instead of choosing either extreme. But, I'll concentrate a bit more on the async meetings beginning now (since they're less known).

How do you run a successful Asynchronous Meeting

So now you know what sorts of remote meetings there are as well as different options for how to run these, but how do manage an online meeting? This can be an issue when you're familiar with real-time meetings.

As I have no personal experience with conducting meetings (only participating in them), I asked a couple of experts, among them an ex-Project Manager who became a freelance writer, Laura Bosco, what they thought made for effective and product Asynchronous meetings. Here's the things she had to say:

 "--the context and structure of the async message have been major factors for me and are still a major factor for me when working with clients.

Context: Some kinds of announcements, feedback or inquiries are more sensitivity or susceptible to being misinterpreted. Video can be more effective than text as people can listen to your voice and also be able to see your face. It reduces misperceptions and relationships injury.

Format: Big fan of BLUF (bottom-line-up-front) in most written comms. In addition, it's more efficient. If you can make your question clear and succinctly stated, you're much more likely to get the answer you want. It's also a way to demonstrate empathy for the recipient. This shows appreciation for their time and every day influx of emails.

 In addition, there is text formatting. Headers, bullets, bold or italics for key requests...these do not devalue the receiver. They assist them to digest your messages ."

Laura isn't the only person to suggest providing context is the best way to use async communication. Michael Steele, CEO of Flywheel Digital (a remote first technical marketing firm) who is an enthusiastic user of Notion, Google Docs, and Slack to build their tech stack. He also said:

 "A major factor in achieving success in the world of synchronous communication with employees and clients is to provide information. Everybody involved needs to be aware of the objectives and the most recent developments or events of note, and have the ability to access important documents such as strategies, marketing personas, and performance reports.

 With no context for synchronous communications, miscommunications often arise and time is spent repairing errors and making corrections that could have been easily prevented with the correct details available from the beginning."

In terms of the operational aspect of managing meetings, the founder of ScrapingBee (a 100% remote company) Kevin Sahin says that in addition to having short, real-time meetings that are facilitated with memos written using Notion, they also use Slack:

"Slack is asynchronous and it uses Slack status to determine if a colleague can be reached for a phone call or not. When we send messages in Slack, we don't expect immediate response, which is the point. The general principle is to select the right software for the task."

To run an effective meeting asynchronously, you need to ensure that you're using the tools correctly, providing context, and that the topics you're discussing are presented it's easy and fast to manage.

9 tips to plan and execute the perfect remote meeting

No matter if your remote conference is synchronous or asynchronous however, there are a some general guidelines to ensure that they run smoothly. These tips are derived from current research and others are derived from experience. I'll present them in a pre-, during, and after format for those favoring real-time. However, the information can be applied to meetings that are async.

 Prior to the gathering:

1. Be sure that only those who are essential can be invited. If you overcrowd the virtual gathering such as a video conference or a Slack channel, information can rapidly be lost, and fewer people will be able to actively participate.
   
2. Set a crystal clear agenda. You can set agendas for either real-time or async-based meetings using the program of your choice, when I was working at the banking sector, we created Notion templates with fill-in sections like issues we're facing and actions points.
   
3. Set meeting standards. Laura also mentioned her favorite strategy to employ that is to write and share "how to work together" documents ( like this one), to help establish norms and expectations for meetings as well as other forms of communication.

 During the meeting:

1. Start and finish on time. This point is especially true for real-time remote meetings, there's not anything worse than showing up to a meeting late or running out of time. Time is of utmost importance to people. It's also true for async meetings -- if you don't respond in a reasonably timely time, information may be lost, or deadlines might get not met.
   
2. Keep it short. Similar to the above point, there's not much use in an hour-long live-streamed meeting in the event that you could make all the points that you wish to with async messaging or smaller meetings. As for async, avoid writing huge walls of text or long pauses in recorded videos.
   
3. Make sure everyone is heard or acknowledged. As I mentioned earlier, not everyone has the personality type to speak up during real-time conversations, async comms allows those who aren't to speak up. As an administrator or host of meetings is still essential to be vigilant about participants' participation.

 Following the meeting:

1. Gather feedback from participants. If you're experimenting using different kinds of events, it's crucial to collect feedback from participants to find the things that aren't working regarding the communication style and method. Different software may work better than others for different people.
   
2. Provide a means for communication to follow-up. Generally speaking, it's best to create a channel of communication or virtual place where attendees can share specific points regarding the meeting or updates regarding action items without cluttering in the actual meeting.
   

If you're thinking now, "those tips are all well and good however, what is the programs?", this next section will help you.

Software to facilitate remote meetings

Naturally, one of the most important considerations when conducting remote meetings of any type is to ensure that you're using the correct technology to begin with. For synchronous meetings, naturally the most well-known videoconferencing solutions such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams/Skype, and Google Meet do the trick quite well. However, it's quite different when it comes to synchronous meetings.

A few of the most well-known Asynchronous Meeting Software (which are mostly project management tools) as well as some that were previously mentioned include:

•   Slack
•   Trello
•   Google Docs
•   Asana
•   Notion
•   Basecamp
• If you're in a group of developers, Gitlab or Github is a good option.

Choosing the right tool to host your virtual meetings

The majority of collaboration tools that I've discussed above are texts-based, or are used for communication. However, others can be a mix of images, text or video. So, just as Laura said in the past, context and formatting are key.

 For simple project updates

If you're trying for ways to bring people up speed on what your project situation is like, apps such as Trello, Asana, and Notion are great for this. In my case, for instance I (and my former workplace) use Notion  boards to provide an overview of project statuses and also to read comments.

You can do a similar  board-like organization with each of the applications mentioned above.

 For continuous updates

If your team or project must be simple to reach but not have regular meetings that are held in-person The majority of the apps listed are good, Basecamp in particular is excellent, however Slack takes the cake on this one.

At my old workplace, every team was given their own Slack channel in which they could hold stand-ups that were asynchronous as well as company-wide channels for more general discussions. Of course, I don't have access to that particular Slack workspace anymore, but I do have some Slack workspaces I use in a similar way:

 For more complex or sensitive information

Just as Laura mentioned, some kinds of information require a personal touch. There is no need to keep information that either gets misunderstood or is lost in the shuffle of blog posts and other projects. In order to avoid that, you'll need to utilize video. And is there to help you.

In addition it is possible to monitor who's watched your video and collaborate on the comment section.

It's not always easy to figure out exactly what software or process to employ since each team works differently, so it's worthwhile to test the waters early and never being afraid to move on if one doesn't work for you.

The remote playbook: etiquette for meetings that take place online

The final topic to cover in this guide is the etiquette of meetings. Certain aspects may be familiar to those who have been through the topics we've covered previously, but it's worth summarizing exactly what common remote meeting etiquette looks as.

In synchronous meetings, we've experienced countless Zoom calls that taught us these general guidelines (and still accidentally break them):

• You should ensure that you're not in a mute state when speaking.
• Find a quiet spot so other participants can concentrate on your (not your washer playing in the background).
• Test the features you want to implement before deciding to avoid wasting time figuring it out at the time of meeting.

The situation, however, is somewhat different when you consider Asynchronous meetings. The manner of conduct can differ based on the mode of communication or channel of communicating.

For channels that use text (e.g. Notion, Slack etc.)

• Make sure you're posting relevant information on the appropriate channel/thread/page (or in the event that you're discussing something relevant, provide a link to said thread/page).
• You shouldn't view it as an email. This means that you should acknowledge a message or a task instead of leaving it to your inbox (in Slack you can mark a message with an emoticon! ).
• Remember that everyone has personal lives. In asynchronous messaging It's easy to overlook you're not doing the same thing as you. Make sure that someone is online prior to making a push message to them.

 For asynchronous video meetings

• Check that your camera and microphone are good enough for others to understand what you're talking about.
• Have a clear takeaway you want to impart to other people -- nobody would like to watch a video and not learn any new information.

These are not a set of general guidelines. The company you work for may have its own guidelines for communication to each other, and which tools to utilize. This is why keep these rules in mind while learning the basics or setting these rules.

You can get off to a positive beginning with online meeting

As with many relationships communicating effectively is the essential ingredient to a productive day-to-day operation however, communication does not necessarily need to be the moment.

Asynchronous remote meetings can help you have better conversations, engage all of your team members, and foster a culture of openness (since communications that are synchronously conducted are typically recorded). If you're contemplating moving to asynchronous meetings you should consider trying different methods to determine what works for you.