Synchronous or asynchronous? A question of communication
by Charles Kerrigan and Ivor Colson
As many of us return to the workplace it becomes clear that the pandemic has changed the way of work and has presented complex obstacles to overcome.
People may want more face-to-face contact with colleagues yet would not want to sacrifice flexibility or remote working. According to the CIPD, 87 per cent of us want flexibility in the workplace. In other words, although people want to make new connections at work, they also want the very thing that makes building new connections difficult in the first place: working remotely.
The challenge here is how effective can communicating be made when working remotely?
A reliance on synchronous communication leads to a feeling of ‘always on’ and to unproductive teams. Asynchronous communication can lead to teams feeling isolated and unmotivated. The difference between the two communication styles is the expected response time. Synchronous communication is real-time and conducted in venues like actual meetings or instant messages. Asynchronous communication is where expected response times are slower and is often conducted via emails or even project applications like Trello.
An over reliance on asynchronous communication can lead to slow response times and an erosion of team morale due to the lack of human contact. An over reliance on synchronous communication can result in teams being stressed and interrupted with this ‘always on’ feeling. But which communication style should companies prioritise?
Some teams will want opportunities to connect widely, and others may want a more remote setup. This is likely down to personality, and generational differences to do with stages in career. Gen Z or millennials are more likely to be single and early in their careers, and networking is essential to their working needs. These workers bring a freight of new ideas, and their contributions are critical. They offer real opportunities to create connections with others. Conversely, Gen X or boomers are more likely to have a partner, a family and probably a network of established connections. They are more likely to favour a flexible working style.
It’s important to note that whilst technology has been a lifesaver for businesses worldwide, the limitations are now palpable. Zoom fatigue is real, it’s hard to pick up social cues and paralinguistic communication, which leads to sterile online conversations.
A related problem is that companies are finding it difficult to manage their information due to the sheer volume and fragmented storage of data. The result is that teams can’t find the information they need and are not as knowledgeable as they could be. Applications that focus on the centralisation and connection of information and data, regardless of the source, will produce productivity gains for companies. Creating this ‘single source of truth’ across fragmented applications unlocks many possibilities. Automated workflows across applications means accurate answers to complex questions can be found quickly.
In the case of law firms, information management presents both technical and practical challenges. Law firms are held to high data security standards both by their regulator and by their clients – especially clients operating in regulated industries. On a practical level, firms need to know that client instructions received electronically have been sent by the person they purport to have been sent by. Auditing communications got harder with the advent of email. Discussions across teams on multiple channels multiply the potential problem.
Lawyers are notoriously slow adopters of legaltech. This isn’t because they aren’t interested or willing, but time poor people don’t have time to invest in learning new ways to communicate. A familiar good enough product beats a great unfamiliar product almost every time. Legaltech vendors know that with new tools first impressions count because culture eats novelty for breakfast.
Charles Kerrigan (pictured) is a FinTech partner with law firm CMS, and Ivor Colson is CEO of Omnifia