Synchronous/Asynchronous
Synchronous/Asynchronous
Terms once used by us tech nerds
Are now becoming mainstream (thanks pandemic). A better understanding of the concept will help us create better hybrid work and learning environments.
Synchronous: happens at the same time.
Asynchronous: doesn’t happen at the same time.
In human communication terms:
Synchronous communication are real-time interactions. There is a dependency on presence, so they must be scheduled. video, phone, in person etc.
Asynchronous communications happen on an individuals own timing. The tools one uses asynchronously inform how interactive the experience can be. Watching or listening to recorded content is more passive then interacting asynchronously with tools like Slack, MSFT Teams etc.
Prior to the pandemic, We put a higher value on in person real-time often face to face meetings. Why? This is the way humanity has been working for its entirety. Async communication were often slow (letters) or passive (reading a book).
Prior to the information age, we had very few tools to ever interact effectively in an async manner; but we have rapidly developed the tools over the last 30 years.
The pandemic combined with our emerging tools have taught us to learn not only how to work in an async manner but to thrive.
It isn’t an either/or it's a spectrum. The past criticism of async communication of being slow, passive and not able to handle urgency is gone. The collaboration tools today allow for a blend of async with real time that frankly changes the way we can work and learn.
This is a new way of working/learning for all of us, and the key to effective future hybrid work/learning. Practices and approaches for using the tools and working across the spectrum are emerging. It is super fun and exciting to see how others are working/learning.
What have you learned?
Link to original linkedin post: https://bit.ly/3nabbr9
(worth clicking on the original linkedin Post, because the comments are amazing and often the conversation is better than the original post)