AVOIDING “DEATH” BY ZOOM

The future of work is human. 

AI, VR, metaverse etc… may open up new frontiers and help us do our work better…

However the majority of work will still be driven by humans.

So the best way for you to work with fellow humans AKA your team, is by leveraging two different modes of communication. 

Before we can dive into those, we must build upon the core foundation of work. 

THE CENTER OF ALL HUMAN WORK & COMMUNICATION 

Humans need one thing to perform effective work in a team setting: 

Trust.  

We must be able to depend on our team and they must be able to depend on us. 

We also have to trust our leaders that they will follow through on their word. 

We also have to feel safe to have a shared brain trust with key team members when creating a strategy or a plan. 

No matter how you put it, without trust, no significant work that makes a difference can be done. 

LEVERAGED COMMUNICATION 

There are two tools at our disposal when communicating with our teams: 

1 – Synchronous communication 

2 – Asynchronous communication 

To communicate effectively, you must build trust by leveraging these two forms of communication with your team. 

And yes, you can build trust with only async communication. I can’t tell you how many times someone who has listened to my podcast and watched my videos has told me on our first live call: “I feel like I already know you”. 

It’s the law of repetition and familiarity. 

However, with your teams, you must accelerate this process. 

The best way to do this is to setup synchronous touch points on a weekly or bi-weekly cadence but work primarily asynchronous. 

Synchronous touch points can include: 

-Strategy 

-Teaching

-Team bonding

While asynchronous focuses on deliverables, outcomes and results. 

Asynchronous communication, in my opinion, needs to be 80% of your workday.

If your workday is 80% synchronous meetings, you’re a zombie, and will be left behind the teams that move at a quicker pace. 

HOW I DO IT

From my personal experience, this works if you’re a $100,000 company or a $15,000,000+ company. 

-Weekly strategy calls

-15 minute weekly team stands ups 

-Everything else in a project management tool that drives outcomes 

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

How are you building trust with your team?

What cadence do you want to meet with your team? Is the meeting an “all hands on deck” or is it a 15 minute standup with a small team? 

How are you leveraging technology to empower communication and driving action asynchronous?