According to the last three years of Buffer’s State of Remote Work report, communication and collaboration are consistently among the top struggles remote teams face. Collaborating with your team can be hard when searching for a meeting time that works for everyone. You can also lose track of files in your team’s Slack chats. These issues are of particular concern if your group plans to continue remote or hybrid work post-pandemic.

Innovative companies like Buffer, Remote.com, and global agency VMLY&R turn to asynchronous work for a solution. Below we’ll share the benefits of asynchronous work and how your team can do it with ScreenPal.

What is asynchronous work, and how can it help remote teams?

In an asynchronous work environment, there are no set work hours. Employees prioritize getting things done independently rather than sitting through meeting after meeting until 5 o’clock rolls around. Instead of scheduling all-hands meetings, people share non-urgent updates using asynchronous communication like pre-recorded videos, voice memos, instant messages, or screenshots.

Employees benefit from the flexibility of asynchronous work. It enables them to take more initiative in their projects and prioritize work-life balance. 

Managers spend less time trying to round everyone up to move projects ahead, making it a win-win.

Plus, as Andrew Dimitriou, CEO of Europe, Middle East, and Africa for VMLY&R, told Digiday, asynchronous work “…sharpens your pencil more to find the right talent for the right project — you’re not bound by country, client, office, or region like you were previously.”

Companies can search globally to find the right people for every job. 

Asynchronous work isn’t a free-for-all, though. Companies will need to adopt efficient and consistent communication practices to make the new system work. There should be central hub for everyone to stay in touch.  This way, your team knows where to share and find updates.  

How to implement asynchronous work at your company 

There are numerous ways to communicate asynchronously, but video is one of the most effective. Here are a few ways asynchronous video can help your team overcome ‘Zoom fatigue‘ and work more independently. 

Video for quick questions:

There’s no need to interrupt anyone’s workflow for non-urgent matters, especially when working across time zones. Instead, use the screen recorder to make a brief video to share with your coworker with a sharable link. That way, they can watch your video clip when they have time. They can also take a moment to think through your message before responding to you.

For this type of video, set the screen recorder to record using your webcam so your coworkers can see your face. Seeing your facial expressions and body language helps prevent miscommunication. 

Screencasts for trainings, demos, and tutorials:

Whether you’re creating training videos, helping customers solve IT issues, or walking your team through the latest updates to your project, asynchronous communication is a smart way to teach and share.

Unlike live trainings and walkthroughs, which disappear after the event, your team can watch and rewatch the pre-recorded video as needed.

Use a screencast for information that requires visual aids, like software tutorials, changes to your company’s app or website, or IT help. Use the screen recorder to record just your screen or both your screen and webcam.

After recording, you can use the video editor to add helpful visual elements like text, highlights, shapes, zoom effects, images, and more. You can also draw on the screen, which is handy for walking your audience through complicated tasks. 

Video organization using channels:

Your videos are only helpful if people know how to find them. If you share your video in a mass email, your team may only watch it once (if that), then promptly forget about it. With ScreenPal, you can create channels for easy video organization, storage, and sharing.

Make a company-wide channel for announcements that affect everyone and smaller channels for each department. Keep the link to your channels in an easy-to-find location, so everyone knows where to go for updates. 

Hosting also keeps your videos safe and private within your organization, so you’ll never have to worry about sensitive information leaking.

Next-level screenshots:

When you need a visual aid but don’t want to make an entire video, try taking a screenshot with ScreenPal on your computer or mobile device.

You can capture the information on your screen, then use the Image Editor to swiftly add text annotations, highlights, or numbered steps to your image. Share your screenshot with coworkers, add it to your next slide deck, or use the video editor to drop it into a video.

Make your Zoom calls work harder:

There will always be situations where you need to call a live meeting, but you can still think ahead and avoid repeating yourself later by recording your Zoom calls.

You can turn your recorded session into a reusable training video with our Zoom integration, which imports your recording directly into the video editor for seamless editing and easy sharing. 

Cut out silences and off-topic chatter, auto-generate captions with speech-to-text, and add music, images, and transitions to turn your meeting into an engaging, replayable video for your team. 

Try asynchronous communication with your team

Trying asynchronous work costs nothing, but your team will gain independence, work-life balance, and productive time in the process.