Asynchronous Engagement Methods

Too many product teams believe meaningful user research has to involve long interviews, Zoom calls, and endless scheduling and note-taking. But honestly? You can get most of what you need without all that hassle. 🙅♂️ I’ve conducted hundreds of live user research conversations in early-stage startups to inform product decisions, and over the years my thinking has evolved on the role of synchronous time. While there’s a place for real-time convos, I’ve found async tools like Loom often uncover sharper insights—faster—when used intentionally. 🚀 Let’s break down the ROI of shifting to async. If you want to interview 5 people for 30 minutes each, that’s 150 minutes of calls—but because two people are on the call (you and the participant), you’re really spending 300 minutes of combined time. Now, let’s say you record a 3-minute Loom with a few focused questions, send it to those same 5 people, and they each take 5 minutes to write their feedback. That’s 8 minutes per person and just 5 minutes once for you. 45 total minutes versus 300. That’s an order-of-magnitude reduction in time to get hyper-focused feedback. 🕒🔍 Just record a quick Loom, pair it with 1-3 specific questions designed to mitigate key risks, and send it to the right people. This async, scrappy approach gathers real feedback throughout the entire product lifecycle (problem validation, solution exploration, or post-launch feedback) without wasting your users' time or yours. Quick example: Imagine your team is torn between an opinionated implementation of a feature vs. a flexible/customizable one. If you walk through both in a quick Loom and ask five target users which they prefer and why, you’ll get a solid read on your overall user base’s mental model. No need for endless scheduling or drawn-out Zoom calls—just actionable feedback in minutes. 🎯 As an added benefit: this approach also allows you to go back to users for more frequent feedback because you're asking for less of their team with each interaction. 🍪 Note that if you haven’t yet established rapport with the users you’re sending the Looms to, it’s a good idea to introduce yourself at the start in a friendly, personal way. Plus, always make sure to express genuine appreciation and gratitude in the video—it goes a long way in building a connection and getting thoughtful responses. 🙏 Now, don’t get me wrong—there’s still a place for synchronous research, especially in early discovery calls when it’s unclear exactly which problem or solution to focus on. Those calls are critical for diving deeper. But once you have a clear hypothesis and need targeted feedback, async tools can drastically reduce the time burden while keeping the signal strong. 💡 Whether it’s problem validation, solution validation, or post-launch feedback, async research tools can get you actionable insights at every stage for a fraction of the time investment.

Your team can't do their best work when meetings control their entire day. I see this play out constantly: You finish back-to-back meetings feeling productive, then realize you haven't actually done any of the work that matters. The real work gets pushed to nights and weekends. This isn't just you. 68% of remote workers say they don't have enough uninterrupted time for focused work. Why does this happen?  Meetings create an illusion of alignment. We leave feeling heard and understood. But each person remembers different parts of what was discussed. The miscommunication only becomes clear later, at the worst possible time. Usually right before a launch, client presentation, or crisis when everyone realizes they've been working toward different goals. Plus, meetings scheduled without intention interrupt your flow and create disjointed schedules that hinder your ability to process complex information and make the connections that drive business forward. So how do you address these challenges and allow people to structure their days in ways that work with how the brain functions? The solution: Shift to asynchronous communication. Async = communication with a delay (written messages, shared docs, recorded updates). How to start: Audit your recurring meetings. For each one, ask: ▪️Are we just taking turns talking? ▪️Would people understand this better if they could read and process it on their own time? ▪️Is it just a placeholder without a clear outcome? If you answered yes to any of these → convert it to async. Convert these three first:  ▪️Status meetings → Weekly update doc. Standard format. Everyone adds updates. Read when needed. ▪️Review meetings → Shared doc with comments. Share in advance. People comment. Only meet if real-time discussion is needed. ▪️"Quick syncs" → Clear written request. Include context and deadlines “Can you do X by Friday”. Be specific: "Does this solve problem Y?" not "What do you think?" This is really about shifting our thinking. So challenge yourself to try something new using this simple decision framework: ▪️Go async for: Information sharing, status updates, simple questions, gathering input ▪️Keep meetings for: Complex problem-solving, relationship building, difficult conversations The result? Your team can structure their days around their brain's needs, not meeting schedules. You reclaim 8-19 hours per week (depending on your role) for actual thinking. It's time to challenge what we're comfortable with and learn new ways of communicating that help us work more flexibly and perform better. What's one meeting on your calendar this week that could be async instead? Ready to redesign your team's approach? DM me.

Atlassian has been fully distributed for almost five years. We don’t have all the answers, but we’ve learned a lot about how to keep teams thriving across time zones—and we’re applying those insights every day.  ➡️ Asynchronous work: Async tools are at the core of how we operate. Confluence is our virtual hub where we share stories, celebrate new hires, and collaborate effortlessly. We also use Loom to share videos and give feedback on our own time—avoiding those dreaded “this could have been an email” moments. In fact, we’ve saved nearly half a million meetings using Loom! ➡️ Designing workdays: We’ve learned to structure workdays for focus, collaboration, and meetings (only when absolutely necessary). Teams work across no more than two time zones, ensuring at least four hours of overlap to get things done together. ➡️ Intentional connection: Data shows that real connection happens when teams meet regularly—not sporadically in an office. We provide Intentional Togetherness Gatherings (ITGs), curated experiences, and focused in-person time to collaborate. ➡️ Adapting for different needs: It’s not one-size-fits-all. For example, new hires and grads often benefit from more frequent in-person meetups, so we make sure to offer opportunities for them to connect early on. https://lnkd.in/g2sSbe3v

“Asynchronous selling” is quietly becoming a key component of buying motions in B2B — whether sellers have caught up or not. Today’s buyers (yes, including enterprise) don’t want to wait for a calendar invite to make progress. They want to explore with their own team, on their own time and schedule, across time zones and without friction. That means a whole lot of the buying journey increasingly happens without a seller present in real time. The key word in that last sentence is “present”.   The best teams are designing for this reality, where buying is enabled with proactive and strategic seller expertise, guidance and support.  Self-serve ways to understand value, align internally, and answer hard questions long before a sales call happens.  Think short, role-specific video explainers; interactive demos and proof points; ROI models buyers can run and share internally; clear next steps that don’t require emailing a rep; and fast, intelligent responses when buyers do raise their hand — whether that’s at 9am or 9pm. Platforms like Consensus didn’t create this shift, but they reflect it: enabling buyers to move forward asynchronously while still capturing insight, intent and momentum for sales teams. Sellers, please don’t freak out.  This isn’t removing you from the process but rather recognizing where you are most valuable (and where buyers are better off working independently). The average B2B sellers only spends 25-30 percent of their time actively selling. Imagine what just a couple points of improvement could do to your sales team’s productivity and results. The best sellers welcome buyer enablement advances, allowing them to focus their active selling time on the interactions where they are needed most (and where they can have the biggest impact). This improves the overall process dramatically for sellers and buyers.  Reps show up later, but better informed. Buyers arrive aligned, educated, and focused on decisions instead of discovery.  Marketers can focus on and impact revenue velocity through the entire funnel. The open question for B2B teams in 2026 isn’t whether buyers prefer this model. They already do. The question is whether your go-to-market motion is designed to support a buyer who wants to make progress without waiting on you — and still feel confident choosing you when it counts. 

One of the best investments in efficiency we ever made at Guru is asynchronous work. I was reminded of this last week when collaborating with our marketing team on a potentially time-consuming project… Here’s the process they follow in general: 1. They take on a new project, let’s say it’s a new product demo video 2. They prepare a script and storyboard, record a short walkthrough video, and share it with stakeholders for feedback 3. They indicate exactly WHEN they need feedback by, so a clear deadline is set 4. They indicate WHERE to provide feedback (e.g. Figma comment, Slack thread, etc.) 5. They indicate the DRI (directly responsible individual) who will decide which feedback gets acted on and which gets parked for future iteration 6. They review the feedback, comment with clarifying questions, and create a mockup 7. When the deadline is reached, they no longer take feedback for that revision, and move to execution Last week, there were 10 people involved in the project the team worked on. There wasn’t a single live meeting. And everything was done in three days. Now consider how much time and energy would’ve been needed to complete the project synchronously… There would have been multiple meetings. One to kick things off. Another to discuss feedback. Maybe one more to sign off. And there would have been a huge amount of energy spent simply trying to schedule these meetings for 10 people. As a result, this three-day project would’ve taken closer to three weeks. We still do synchronous meetings at Guru. Our Town Halls and 1:1s are live by default. Some "decision centric" meetings are best handled live. But we strongly favor asynchronous for almost everything else. If you feel your energy drain every time you look at your calendar and the sea of meetings clogging it up, it’s possible that async work would help you (and your team) be a lot more efficient.

The shift to distributed teams has revealed a critical gap in technical leadership: most engineers haven't developed strong asynchronous communication skills. After leading remote-first engineering organizations, I've found that the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly in writing often becomes the primary determinant of influence and impact. The real challenges I've observed in async environments are surprisingly human: • People hesitate to ask questions, preferring to wait for scheduled calls • Requirements mentioned in meetings disappear if not explicitly documented and assigned • Team members complete narrow tasks without connecting to broader business outcomes • Self-motivation wavers without immediate feedback loops What's working for us: • Normalizing channel-based communication with deliberate tagging • Creating designated "slow channels" for thoughtful discussion • Using tools like Loom for quick visual explanations instead of scheduling meetings • Documenting decisions and requirements in shared spaces (Lucid charts, Notion) • Encouraging spontaneous huddles over formally scheduled meetings • Maintaining rigorous ticket systems as a single source of truth The teams that thrive remotely aren't those with the best tools, but those with leaders who model these behaviors consistently and create clear expectations around communication. Clear written communication isn't just a nice-to-have; it's the foundation of effective remote collaboration. How are you developing async communication as a core engineering competency? #RemoteWork #EngineeringCommunication #DistributedTeams #TechnicalLeadership

More meetings don’t fix poor communication… They just hide the problem. A leader once told me: “We’re having more meetings than ever, but somehow people are less aligned.” That’s the trap of over-relying on synchronous communication… The kind that demands everyone’s time, focus, and energy at the same moment (think Zoom calls, live huddles, spontaneous Slacks). It creates the illusion of clarity, but in reality: ↳ It interrupts deep work. ↳ It pressures introverts to speak before thinking. ↳ It overvalues the loudest voice in the room. Great teams blend synchronous with asynchronous, by design. That means setting up systems that: ✅ Let people digest and respond on their own time. ✅ Create written records of decisions and updates. ✅ Reduce the need for constant context-switching. One fast-moving client I worked with replaced three of their weekly meetings with Loom updates and a shared project doc. The result? ✅ More ownership. ✅Fewer misunderstandings. ✅A 20% boost in project delivery speed. Synchronous isn’t bad, it’s just not the default. Use it strategically: for alignment, emotional tone, or conflict resolution. Everything else? Systematise it asynchronously. If your team’s calendar is packed with meetings, it’s a sign your communication system is broken, not your people. What’s one meeting your team could replace with an async update this week? Let’s talk about it in the comments, I’ll be hosting a Systems Jam Session right here. This is exactly what I help small business owners and busy leaders do; design systems that reduce friction and boost execution without burning people out. #systems #leadership #business #strategy #ProcessImprovement 

Buyers today are rewriting the B2B playbook. Sales teams are catching up to keep pace. Only 17% of the buyer’s journey is spent engaging with vendors. First, let's clarify what it's not: • It’s not about forcing real-time meetings • It’s not relying on traditional sales tactics • It’s not ignoring the buyer’s independence • It’s not pushing the buyer through your process • It’s not about the hard sell Here's what it really is about: • Connecting with buyers early on LinkedIn • Sending personalized video messages • Multi-threading with all stakeholders • Providing pre-recorded demos • Using digital sales rooms If you want to thrive in B2B sales, embrace asynchronous communication. → It aligns with the buyer’s journey. → It builds trust and adds value. → It makes each interaction high-impact. Adapt to async strategies. During SaaSiest Amsterdam, I highlighted the shift towards asynchronous communication. In a world where buyers research and decide independently, sales teams need new strategies. ↓ Here are the 5 tactics you need to adopt: Async messaging on LinkedIn ↪ Connect with buyers early and consistently. Engage through thoughtful comments and direct messages. Build rapport long before the buying decision is made. Video personalization ↪ Send personalized video messages for updates and prospecting. Add a personal touch and show investment in buyers' success. Keep buyers engaged and informed. Multi-threading with stakeholders ↪ Communicate with all stakeholders in the buying process. Follow up with personalized notes for each attendee. Build multiple connections within an organization. Pre-recorded demos ↪ Empower buyers to explore products on their own terms. Send tailored demos ahead of live discussions. Maximize interactions and make future engagements more strategic. Digital sales rooms ↪ Provide a centralized space for buyers to access resources. Monitor buyer interactions with content. Guide them through their journey and co-create an action plan. The best sales teams adapt and grow with these tactics. Start using these tactics today. And transform your sales strategy to match the modern buyer. Your team and customers will thank you! 𝙋𝙎. 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙘 𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩?

Before we speed-dial our way to another meeting that could’ve been an email, let’s hit pause. The first answer to a question or a problem doesn’t always have to be a real-time call. Embracing async communication can be the key to maintaining our productivity flow and keeping our calendars breathable. Here’s the asynchronous approach: 🔍 Self-Service First: Encourage a culture where the first step is to look for existing documentation or resources that might already have the answer. 📝 Written Communication: Utilize team collaboration tools to document and share questions and solutions. It creates a reference for everyone and often resolves issues faster. 🎥 Recorded Explanations: If something is complex, a quick recorded video (ie @loom) can be more effective than back-and-forth messages. 🤖 Automation Tools: Set up bots and automated help desks to field common queries. 🔄 Batch Responses: Group responses to similar queries and address them in a single, comprehensive message or knowledge base update. Remember, async doesn’t mean aloof. It’s about respecting everyone’s time and energy. By solving problems asynchronously, we not only keep the productivity stream flowing but also cultivate a more thoughtful, efficient way of working together. #AsyncWork #Productivity #MeetingCulture

"I’m too quiet in meetings; my ideas and efforts will never get noticed.” If you’re an introvert, you might have had this thought. I know I have. It can be tough to speak up in meetings, especially when it feels like the loudest voices get all the attention. But here’s a mindset shift that changed everything for me: “I’m really great at communicating asynchronously!” When I stopped focusing on my perceived shortcomings and started leveraging my strengths, I realized how effective asynchronous communication can be. As an introvert myself, I’ll tell you why this shift is crucial: ✨ You play to your strengths. Introverts often excel at written communication. Use this strength to share your ideas through emails, detailed reports, or collaborative documents. ✨ You create visibility and impact. When you share your ideas in written form, it creates a record. Your insights can be revisited, recognized, and appreciated over time. ✨ You create an inclusive environment. Asynchronous methods give everyone, not just the loudest voices, a chance to contribute. ✨ You build presence by contributing thoughtfully. Asynchronous communication allows you to take your time, ensuring your contributions are well-thought-out and impactful. Here's how to make the most of asynchronous communication: ✅ Don’t wait for meetings to share your thoughts. Send out updates regularly to stay top-of-mind. ✅ Document your ideas. After meetings, follow up with an email summarizing your thoughts and suggestions. ✅ Record a video! It’s important so people see your face and hear your voice to feel more connected. Shifting your mindset from focusing on what you’re not good at to leveraging what you are can transform how you feel about your contributions. Want to leverage asynchronous communication in your workplace? Check out my free LinkedIn Learning Course: https://lnkd.in/gAbVX85u