How people work in the UK continues to undergo significant changes. Earlier this year, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill received Royal Assent, and the government has shared plans to introduce the right to ‘switch off’ outside work, which is currently under consultation. At the heart of this initiative are flexibility and asynchronous work.
While these initiatives present significant upsides for employees, we must acknowledge they can introduce business challenges. How do organisations maintain momentum, collaboration, and cohesion in a world of distributed workforces and asynchronous work?
The answer is to shift from a presence mindset to an outcomes mindset and leverage the right technologies to empower employees, embrace flexibility, and harness the benefits of asynchronous work.
Challenges of Flexible, Asynchronous Work
Flexible, asynchronous work isn’t without its hurdles. Businesses are often concerned that productivity and accountability will suffer without a typical nine-to-five schedule, especially when employees work across time zones and in different locations.
Similarly (and this is something that many will understand), communication may become more challenging in such circumstances. There’s a risk that important information will get lost. The lack of real-time interaction can also lead to misunderstandings, ultimately delaying decision-making and potentially impeding collaboration.
Furthermore, many organisational leaders worry asynchronous work will exacerbate employee isolation and disconnection, negatively impacting company culture. Reduced in-person interactions can make fostering a sense of belonging hard and impede team bonding, potentially decreasing employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention rates.
Finally, businesses must grapple with the logistical and technological challenges of enabling a distributed workforce. Asynchronous work can create uncertainties about data security, employee support, and resource accessibility.
Shifting Mindset and Embracing Asynchronous Work
One of the most immediate things business leaders can do to overcome these challenges is shift their mindset.This change must be driven from the top down, and leadership is crucial in encouraging managers to embrace new ways of working.
What does this shift need to look like? It should establish new organisational values by prioritising outcomes over presence. Leaders must recognise and reward employees for their accomplishments rather than focus on when and where work is done.This requires leaders and managers to work with employees to clearly define goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be measured regardless of an employee’s work schedule or location.
Another critical component of this shift is trust. Leaders must cultivate a culture of trust by empowering employees to manage their time and workloads effectively. This means eschewing micromanagement and embracing a results-oriented approach that gives workers more autonomy.
Team communication will also need to evolve. Asynchronous work demands clear, concise, and well-documented communication. To support communication, leaders can encourage the adoption of tools and technology that allow multi-stakeholder feedback and create a record of discussions and decisions.
Lastly, a renewed focus on work-life balance is required. Leaders can set an example by respecting boundaries and avoiding the “always-on” mentality that easily creeps into remote and asynchronous work environments. Research shows that Gen Z and Millennials —combined, the largest group in the workforce—value behaviours that demonstrate a positive work-life balance. Leaders who signal they prioritise a work-home equilibrium and fuel a modernised workplace culture can increase engagement and retention.
Empowering Asynchronous Collaboration with Tech
The effective implementation of technology is critical to the success of asynchronous work. The right tools can go a long way to facilitating seamless collaboration, evolving team communication, creating a hub for organisation-wide knowledge sharing, and more.
Collaborative work management platforms are primed for this shift in work practices. They simplify the complexity of asynchronous work by creating a central source of truth around which teams operate. The platforms bring together all the tools employees need to collaborate, manage, and share their work, enabling teams to tackle pressing challenges efficiently and with greater impact.
Regardless of hours or location, all essential information and assets are accessible to employees. Team members can update their work status, ask questions, and provide feedback in one location and at their own pace, reducing the need for meetings. Similarly, workflow automation tools can significantly streamline processes in an asynchronous environment by automating routine tasks and approvals, moving projects forward even when key team members are offline.
Recently, these platforms have incorporated GenAI capabilities to push the performance envelope. For instance, Smartsheet now uses AI to generate formulas using natural language prompts, empowering organisations to get an even greater return on their data.
As we continue to adapt to the changing world of work, asynchronous models offer significant benefits, including flexibility, work-life balance, and productivity gains. However, realising these benefits requires organisational leaders to embrace new mindsets and leverage the right technologies.
UK businesses can successfully navigate this new landscape by focusing on outcomes rather than presence, fostering a culture of trust, enabling communication, and utilising tools that support asynchronous collaboration. Organisations that can effectively balance the flexibility of asynchronous work with employees’ need for connection will be best positioned to thrive.
Sarfraz Ali is Vice President and General Manager of EMEA at Smartsheet.
