A vast, diverse global talent pool is now just a click away. The remote workforce model is ideal to build a global team and can be a win-win for both your company and employees.
But before you hire the brightest talent from across the globe, consider how you are going to get the best out of them when they are in different locations and time zones.
The answer is to embrace asynchronous communication. If you are looking to expand globally, while remaining productive, it is essential to use asynchronous communication to hire, manage, and retain your international remote talent.
Benefits of asynchronous communication
- Eases workday stress: Asynchronous communications relieve the pressure on your remote employees to immediately respond to messages. It gives them time to think about a response —rather than a knee-jerk reply.
- More control over the workday: This type of communication for your global team can work when they are feeling the most productive. They can set aside time to respond to messages when it suits them, rather than having to pause their work to respond immediately.
- Creates a living document: Because it is in written form, all asynchronous communication becomes instant documentation that can be referenced indefinitely, unlike in-person discussions.
- Seamless collaboration across time zones: When there’s no expectation of an immediate response, team members from across the globe can collaborate on a project. This enables you to hire and utilize productive employees from almost anywhere.
- Improved planning: Due to asynchronous communication not relying on immediate input, employees must plan ahead to work through projects and processes with remote team members. This helps instill a proactive, rather than reactive, mindset that can lead to positive results for your company.
The leading asynchronous tools for remote teams
So how do you keep your entire remote workforce in sync, while working a-sync? Here are five asynchronous tools that will help boost your remote team’s productivity.
1. Loom
Loom is a screen recording software that enables your global team to communicate and collaborate asynchronously. With Loom you can record using your screen camera and audio to send quick videos to your team, customers, or partners to help reduce unnecessary one-off meetings.
A recent survey showed attending noncritical meetings wastes about USD 25,000 per employee annually, and up to USD 101 million a year for any organization with more than 5,000 employees.
Key features:
- Screen and camera recording to make communication quick and easy.
- Video editing software so you don’t have to be perfect with every take.
- Easy video sharing as soon as you stop recording.
- Viewing permissions through password protection or specific emails.
Integrations:
Loom has seamless integrations to Slack, Notion, Jira, GitHub, Gmail, Confluence, Intercom, and more.
2. Slack
One of the most widely used collaboration apps in the marketplace, Slack is an internal communications tool that connects your global team and your work on one platform. Within Slack, you can create channels that group together employees on the basis of departments, projects, or even their hobbies — you name it. This helps create relevant communication spaces that are more conversational than email.
A McKinsey report showed that employees who feel included in more detailed communication are nearly five times more likely to report increased productivity.
Key features:
- Channel creation enables employees to interact on everything related to a topic, project, or team.
- Threads within conversations to minimize communication chaos.
- Advanced search to easily find the information you’re looking for.
- File attachments.
- Connection capabilities to other organizations.
Integrations:
Slack offers thousands of integrations including Google Suite, Outlook, Asana, Workday, Salesforce, and more.
3. Calendly
Calendly makes scheduling easier than ever. It’s a scheduling automation platform that eliminates the hassle of sending multiple emails to organize an appointment time. With over 10,000,000 users worldwide, Calendly provides smarter scheduling for global teams.
A Zippia report showed that businesses gain an average revenue increase of 27% when using online booking systems.
Key features:
- Let’s people schedule meetings on your website.
- Data-driven insights such as popular meeting days, top performers and more.
- Manage your company’s users and scheduling processes from one centralized hub.
- Safeguards company data and compliance needs.
- Connect to up to six calendars per user.
Integrations:
Calendly offers native integrations with up to 70 different apps including – Salesforce, Google, Stripe and PayPal.
4. Confluence
Confluence is an open, shared workspace that empowers remote teams to replace meetings with asynchronous project collaboration. The platform encourages a meet-less workflow and culture. Its workspaces allow your remote team to collaborate on a project while keeping your content organized and accessible.
On average, professionals now spend more than half of their 40-hour workweek in meetings, according to a survey by Reclaim.
Key features:
- Pre-made templates for wiki pages, articles, and more.
- Page analytics and data reporting.
- Four membership plans available.
- Web app makes it available from any device.
Integrations:
Confluence provides hundreds of integrations including Google Drive, SQL, SharePoint, Outlook, and more.
5. Dropbox
Data security is a top priority for global companies, especially with remote team members. Dropbox uses the latest encryption technology to ensure your data is stored safely. It allows your international team to easily share large files like videos and graphics securely, so your projects keep moving forward.
A Tenable study found that 74 percent of organizations attribute recent business-impacting cyberattacks to remote work tech vulnerabilities.
Key features:
- Notifications for progress updates.
- Security safeguards including password protection, download permissions, encryption, and more.
- All stored files can be accessed anytime and from anywhere by accessing remote servers via the internet.
Integrations:
Dropbox offers many integrations including Slack, Zoom, Google Suite, Adobe, Canva, AWS, and more.
Unlock the power of your global team
Asynchronous communication enabled by the latest technology is key to making your remote team more efficient, productive, and connected. This is where we can help at G-P.
Our #1 SaaS-based Global Growth Platform™ is backed by our expert HR and legal team to make finding, hiring, onboarding, and managing your teams simple — so you can focus on ensuring clear and effective communication with your international team members to foster a culture built on inclusion and collaboration.
As your partner in global expansion, we will empower your global teams with our nearly 10 years of experience in the industry and full suite of services, including legal, finance, accounting, payroll, benefits, time tracking, expense management, and HRIS service.
Learn more about how G-P can help you grow beyond borders and boundaries.