For decades, collaboration at work was largely synchronous. Teams gathered in the same place, at the same time, to share ideas, make decisions, and move projects forward.
But today, how and where we work is highly distributed – across locations, regions, and time zones. Teams may collaborate at a corporate HQ, regional office, customer sites, home office, or any number of purpose-built meeting spaces designed to support both in-person and virtual participation. As a result, organizations must rethink not just where work happens, but how it happens.
As we see it, companies can no longer approach collaboration with a “synchronous only” mindset – one in which meetings are created exclusively for real-time attendance; decision making happens in person; and conversations and knowledge resulting from each meeting only lives for the length of the meeting itself.
As U.S.-based research and advisory firm Gartner notes:
“Most organizations use video meeting solutions and visual collaboration apps to emulate previously existing communication and collaboration experiences. They are missing the opportunity to change processes to reap the full benefit of digital workplace technology investments and initiate new ways of working.”
That’s where asynchronous collaboration comes in.
Today, organizations need effective ways for employees and their colleagues to communicate and work together without being in the same physical location at the same time. This is asynchronous collaboration, and it's especially critical for global companies where teams span multiple time zones and work schedules. Rather than rely solely on live meetings, asynchronous collaboration uses digital tools to capture, share and advance work continuously – enabling progress to happen around the clock.
Graphic adapted from 2021 Gartner Hybrid Work HR Leader Survey
A variety of asynchronous collaboration tools now exist, which enable team members to communicate and work together without needing to be online at the same time. Some examples include:
Here are several benefits of using the asynchronous capabilities of your collaboration tools.
One of the key advantages of asynchronous collaboration tools is that they allow for greater flexibility and convenience. With these tools, team members can communicate and collaborate on their own time rather than being constrained by the need to be available at the same time. This means team members can work at their own pace and can even continue working on projects outside of traditional business hours.
Asynchronous collaboration tools also help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communication within a team. By providing a central platform for storing and sharing information, these tools can help team members easily access the information they need when they need it. This can help reduce the amount of time spent searching for information and can also help to prevent important information from getting lost or forgotten.
Asynchronous collaboration solutions also help promote a sense of community and connectedness among team members. By providing a shared space for team members to interact and work together, these tools can help to foster a sense of belonging and can help to build stronger connections between team members. This can be especially important for global companies, where team members may be physically separated by great distances.
Today’s most effective organizations don’t choose between synchronous and asynchronous collaboration — they design for both.
Live meetings, in-person sessions, and real-time collaboration remain critical for relationship-building and complex discussions. But asynchronous tools ensure that knowledge, decisions, and progress extend beyond the meeting room.
As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said:
“Work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You need to be great at sync, async, in-person, and remote collaboration.”
Organizations that intentionally design their collaboration spaces, meeting rooms, and technology ecosystems with this balance in mind are better positioned to move faster, scale globally, and stay aligned.
As a global systems integrator with more than 50 years of industry experience, FORTÉ helps organizations design, deploy, and support collaboration environments that work – across meeting rooms, offices, and digital platforms. And we use these tools ourselves to connect our team and customers worldwide.
From technology strategy and room design to adoption, training, and ongoing support, we help global teams get more value from their technology investments.
If you’re want to improve how your teams collaborate – before, during, and after meetings – let’s connect. Our experts will share what’s working across the thousands of organizations we support every year.