The Async-First Playbook: Remote Collaboration Techniques for Agile Software Teams

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Kickoffs and Desk Checks: Reduce Ritualized Interruptions

When we were all still in the office, most communication was synchronous. In fact, in my company, each team would have a large table to themselves, and we’d all sit together. If you needed to collaborate with someone, you’d just walk up to them and get things done. When we work remotely, this communication pattern breaks down. This may be one of the biggest features of remote work and one of its most unrealized benefits.

James Stanier, in Effective Remote Work, says this:

Engineers know that it’s a pain to be interrupted mid-thought because the complex internal representation of a computer program in their brain immediately evaporates into thin air when somebody asks, “Have you got ...