Why Async-First Teams Still Need Occasional Sync Meetings

A software professional working remotely from Vancouver for a Japan-based fully flexible organization shares lessons learned about asynchronous communication. While async work offers benefits like personal pacing and automatic written records, he found that complex or stalled discussions often drag on for hours or days without resolution. AI tools have made writing documents easier but have not reduced the burden on readers, particularly in a non-native language context. To counter this, he began scheduling short synchronous meetings for complicated topics, using written documents to share context beforehand and the meeting itself to reach quick decisions. His conclusion is that async communication is a useful tool, not an absolute rule, and blending both modes reduces overall communication costs.