To sync? Or not to sync….that is the question.

We’ve all been there: the unplanned emergency of another is thought to our immediate priority. Not the case – but with email, IM, and cell phones in all our pockets, you can see why folks feel this way.

Ask any Snapchatter left on red: instant response is now an expected obligation. And It’s killing us. 

“No time like the present” has become the norm for many, responding immediately to every email, instant message, or Slack notification while near a screen is killing productivity and the value of focused energies. These constant distractions and our willingness to abandon material tasks has, over time, reduced the percentage of our workdays we’re able to spend on “deep work,” (like creating a product launch strategy, developing a business plan, writing an article, or balancing a budget.)

We can slow the firehouse without reverting to snail mail, and remote workers are finding the joy of being able to focus without pouncing on every ping. It’s the modern equivalent of letting calls go to voicemail, across your devices.

We all need time and space to focus on our own work, and get to less urgent information on our schedules. “Asynchronous communications” allow the recipient to digest the information they’re receiving, and respond when they have the time and focus.

This delayed exchange in the digital age is particularly powerful when leading and communicating major initiatives or transformation changes in our organizations or communities. Your leaders and stakeholders need time to process, to consider, and to absorb some of the major changes and shifts that are underway. 

We spotlight just a few of the powerful tools that great project leaders use in project tasks and discussions to build clarity, ongoing awareness, and build buy-in throughout the life of a project.

Project Charters. This communication is both a shared-vision building exercise, while also providing clear guidance for teams and stakeholders to reflect on over time. While it typically begins with a small core team – a project sponsor, project manager, and a few SMEs that will be integral to the work – it is and should also be used as a communications for stakeholders to help set expectations – particularly for clarifying what is and is NOT in the scope of the work. Charters are living documents, and are worthy of revision as critical assumptions are proven or disproven with new information. These also provide a vetted basis for putting big changes in context (what’s changing, and what’s staying the same).

Multi-model messaging lets us warm to new ideas. When stakeholders see, hear, and encounter new ideas in different ways, they are given time and space to absorb the message. Conventional wisdom says messages must be encountered 5-7 times before we actually “see” them, and some argue that the message should be delivered in as many ways. For many of our stakeholders, they are not actively thinking about the project or effort your core team is spending nights and weekends to deliver, and may not even have yet contemplated what this work - and it’s impact - can mean. (We like the Prochaska & DiClemente cycle of change, which recognizes that awareness and willingness to change takes time. Not everybody wants to experience a change when we want to launch it.)

Project Status Reporting and Executive Summaries. More than obligatory task, status reporting and executive summaries provide the transparency and visibility that your executive sponsors need to support you and your team. Unless your initiative is desperately struggling and you require an immediate intervention, most projects simply need to keep critical supporters informed of progress and changes in timing for your work. While status reporting is sometimes used as a CYA exercise around disclosure, great project leaders know that these communication vehicles are key to building and maintaining buy-in and support for work that may be facing challenges. When done well, you educate and equip your supporters to help advocate for your work, and do it well when you aren’t in the room.

Business Requirements & Learning Aids. While many don’t pair these two ideas together, they are natural complements when thinking about communicating very tactical changes and are central to driving utilization and effective adoption. Gathering and thoroughly socializing business requirements is how we identify what NEEDS to change through a project, and is our reference guide in evaluating our effectiveness in moving an initiative forward. Thoughtfully gathered requirements also speak to how we will test this in a future state, so this upfront work is actually the foundation on which we will evaluate the effectiveness of “fit” for our operations. To this end, we are able to continue to re-use this communication as we look at key changes, and where both training and continued learning aids and references will need to be prepared to guide users as they shift into a new way of working.

It’s amazing what a little time and space can do to get people on the same page, or offer thoughtful and insightful feedback.

What might your team’s productivity look like if they were encouraged to used asynchronous communication more often? Maybe it’s worth an experiment.