The Async-First Playbook

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“Async is the superpower the most successful distributed teams have already realized, so understanding the playbook for implementing async-first practices is a must-do for any leader moving into this type of operating system. Sumeet has done a phenomenal job outlining that here.”
—Chase Warrington, Head of Remote, Doist

“Collaboration is going async. The advantages are just too great: global reach–which enables more inclusion–and time zone immunity. Sumeet excellently decomposes the issues. And by zeroing in on async leadership, he tackles the elephant in the async room: leadership. Yes, you can be an effective leader, asynchronously.”
—Cliff Berg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Agile 2 Academy

“The Async-First Playbook is a must-read for anyone part of agile teams in today’s fast-paced and distributed work environment. This insightful book shows how adopting an async-first approach can transform the way teams collaborate. The result–higher productivity, better inclusion, and most importantly, fun! The future of work is remote, and async-first collaboration is the key to unlocking its potential. Through concrete examples, this book provides a roadmap for embracing asynchronous communication, enabling teams to focus on deep work and stay in a state of flow. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to unlock the full potential of remote collaboration and achieve better outcomes for their team.”
—Iwo Szapar, Co-founder & Head of Remote, Remote-First Institute

“Asynchronous work, when implemented well, can help create a sustainable and calm way of working. It enables individuals to design their days around productivity and priorities, creating a happier and more human-centric workplace. The Async-First Playbook thoroughly examines effective asynchronous work practices’ benefits (and the challenges, too). This playbook discusses fundamental prerequisites that should be in place before transitioning to an async-first approach, including leadership practices, potential challenges, and a starter kit to help you determine your next steps. If you seek to alleviate information overload and minimize meetings, The Async-First Playbook is a valuable resource.”
—Lisette Sutherland, Director of Collaboration Superpowers, https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com

“At a time when organisations are experimenting with how to make the most out of remote work, Sumeet offers a step-by-step approach on how to make software development practices more inclusive and future-proof. Furthermore, the section aimed directly at managers and leaders also turns the book into a strong advocacy-tool for sustainable remote collaboration.”
—Pilar Orti, Director of Virtual not Distant

“The Async-First Playbook is a comprehensive guide for teams and leaders looking to optimize their remote work practices for a distributed world. The pandemic helped us see that knowledge work really shouldn’t have a place, and now it’s time to recognize and embrace that this work can be better accomplished asynchronously, too. Location-independent work? That’s the first step in the transformation. Have you tried time-independent work? Sumeet shows us how.”
—Tyler Sellhorn, host, The Remote Show podcast

“The Async-First Playbook is not just another book on Agile practices. It’s a game-changer for teams looking to optimize their collaboration through asynchronous communication. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about the principles, frameworks, tools, workflows, and cultural changes necessary to embrace an async-first approach. Even though I’ve been working in a remote setup with an async-first approach for many years, I still found improvements that I’ll implement with my team. I found especially valuable the chapter on ‘The Async-First Leadership Mindset,’ and I can’t wait to share this book with my team.”
—Oana Calugar, Collaboration Consultant, Mural

“Every software company has recently been forced to adapt to remote work, and subsequently workers have awakened to the possibilities afforded by more flexible working. Companies have been experimenting and iterating to find a new equilibrium between in-office, hybrid, and fully remote work, and there have been many fits and starts. What’s been missing is a practical guide on how to make the most of this newly popular work style so that both employees and employers win. Sumeet’s book perfectly fills the void, giving teams and leaders the tools they need to escape the trap of synchronicity and make the most of their newfound asynchronous flexibility.”
—Patrick Sarnacke, Managing Director, Thoughtworks UK

“The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked many publications about remote and hybrid work models. While benefits such as improved work-life balance and diversity have been praised, concerns about weakened personal relationships and burnout are also significant. One crucial element is that, too often, the cons result from companies attempting to put in place novel models while retaining old office-centric practices. That is why I like this book. In The Async-First Playbook, Sumeet Gayathri Moghe offers a practical, hands-on approach to making remote work effective for software development businesses. He emphasizes defaulting to action and provides actionable recommendations for optimizing distributed work arrangements. As someone who has led an organization through a similar journey and had valuable conversations with Sumeet while doing that, I can attest that this book packages knowledge from real-world techniques with a successful track record.”
—Matheus Tait, Managing Director, Thoughtworks Spain

“Building on commonly established working patterns that have been adopted by many in the agile software development movement, Sumeet deftly re-examines the goals of these practices, and identifies remote-friendly alternatives that can lead your team to new heights. Of particular note is the emphasis on honing both writing and reading skills, and on guarding the time to use them both effectively. Those looking to navigate this new frontier would be well advised to set some time aside and read this first!”
—Andy Yates, Head of Technology, Corporate Strategy, Thoughtworks

“The pandemic forced the tech workforce all over the world to work remotely. And since then, the focus has been on overcoming the challenges of remote working. Sumeet argues that the opportunity is bigger–to work differently, adopting async-first approaches and practices, to increase productivity and creativity by creating space for deep work and better collaboration amongst teams. The Async-First Playbook is a complete practitioner’s guide to learn and implement async ways of working for yourself, your team, and your organization. In a new distributed and remote working world, this book has the potential to unlock productivity, better teamwork, and allow for improved work-life balance. A total must-read for technology or knowledge workers.”
—Sameer Soman, Managing Director, Thoughtworks India

“Want to boost productivity and cut costs in your engineering organization? Sumeet’s new book offers practical, actionable recommendations for optimizing team performance and streamlining processes via asynchronous ways of working. In today’s digital-first world, boards are taking notice of the skyrocketing cost of engineering. Sumeet’s book provides a valuable perspective on this issue, offering strategies for achieving better results in less time and at a lower cost. Whether you’re a seasoned engineering leader or just starting out, this is a must-read for anyone looking to drive change and improve their organization’s performance in a highly remote setting.”
—Sagar Paul, Head of Global Solutions, Thoughtworks

“The Async-First Playbook is the book that the distributed agile world has been eagerly awaiting for years! Sumeet’s direct and to-the-point writing style hits hard and very convincingly challenges our traditional norms. The book stays true to the format of a playbook by providing recommendations that are highly actionable and will enable the stated impact. An amazing must-read for software professionals.”
—Santosh Mahale, Director, Engineering Group | e4r (Engineering for research)

“The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of remote work, and it is now here to stay. However, many companies are still struggling to adapt to this new reality. This is where The Async-First Playbook comes in. In this book, the author makes a compelling argument for why async-first practices are essential for modern knowledge work. He guides the reader through the foundational elements needed to create an async-first culture, from individual and team practices to leadership and management styles. The author also highlights the challenges that come with remote work and provides readers with practical advice on how to avoid common pitfalls. Whether you’re a developer, manager, or senior leader, this book will provide you with the tools you need to succeed in the new world of work.”
—Sunil Mundra, Org. Change and Transformation Leader, CXO Advisor, Thoughtworks

Reimagining Agile for Distributed and Remote Teams

Distributed work is now inevitable, but conventional agile approaches are too “synchronous” for today’s remote teams. Meetings, ceremonies, and rituals can become unsustainable when teams are scattered across the globe. The result: burnout, constant interruptions, a lack of deep work, poor work-life balance, greater frustration, and workplaces with poor diversity.

In The Async-First Playbook, Thoughtworks Principal Product Manager Sumeet Gayathri Moghe provides tools and techniques to embed remote-native, asynchronous practices into traditional agile methods, making remote work more efficient, inclusive, thoughtful, and fun.

Drawing on extensive experience leading distributed teams, Moghe addresses the “nuts and bolts” of specific practices and the crucial “softer” elements such as culture, mindset, and leadership. Short, practical chapters show how to adapt traditional agile techniques such as sprints and pair programming for the realities of today’s distributed environments. Whatever your project, you’ll learn how to create asynchronous environments that promote success, improve the workplace experience, and deliver better results.

• Discover why asynchronous collaboration is crucial to your project’s success
• Learn the tools, skills, and protocols you need to get right in order to go “async-first”
• Map current agile techniques to async-first versions that better reflect today’s realities
• Become a more supportive and effective leader of async-first teams
• Anticipate, navigate, and mitigate the pitfalls of async-first distributed work
• Bring it all together–walk through your async-first transition
• Access valuable resources, examples, and hands-on templates at the companion website

“This playbook will empower you to lead and build differently. All that you need is an open mind and a belief that the status quo isn’t worthy of defining the future.”
—From the Foreword by Darren Murph

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Foreword by Martin Fowler xxi
Foreword by Darren Murph xxiii
Preface xxv
Acknowledgments xxix
About the Author xxxiii

Part I: Adapting to the New Normal 1

Chapter 1: There’s Got to Be a Better Way to Work 3
Work Deserves a New Look 5
A Better Work Environment for All of Us 11

Chapter 2: Foster a Mindset for Change 13
Four Simple Ideas 13
Go Far, Go Together 19
Ready for the First Steps 19

Part II: Prepare to Go Async-First 21

Chapter 3: The Tools You Need 23
With Tools, Less Is More 23
Tools Are Everything; Tools Are Nothing 27

Chapter 4: The Biggest Async-First Superpower 29
Writing Is a Practice; Documentation a Product 30
To Work Async-First, We Must Write 41

Chapter 5: Three More Async-First Superpowers 43
What an Async-First Superhero Looks Like 43
Personal Productivity Leads to Team Productivity 47

Chapter 6: Calm Things Down with Collaboration Protocols 49
Work Execution vs. Workflow 49
Fundamentals, Fundamentals, Fundamentals 56

Part III: The Practitioner’s Guide 57

Chapter 7: Meetings as the Last Resort 59
Just. Too Many. Meetings. 59
Async-First, with Small Shifts 66

Chapter 8: The Value of Being Face to Face 69
From URL to IRL 69
So Much for Meetings 75

Chapter 9: Micro-Moves to Shift Left 77
Small Shifts, Easy Wins 77
Build Async-First Behavioral Cues 85

Chapter 10: Write a Team Handbook 87
Distributed Teams Need a Single Source of Truth 87
Aim for a Shared Reality 95

Chapter 11: Tame the “Instant” in Instant Messaging 97
Make Messaging Productive 97
Messaging: Just Not Instant 105

Chapter 12: Standup Meetings: An Easy Shift Left 107
Distributed Standups Can Be Painful 108
Standups = Conveyance/Strong Relationships 116

Chapter 13: Take Charge of Your Development Cycles 117
Sprint Ceremonies Can Hinder Async Work 117
The Key to Asynchrony Is a Strong Process 125

Chapter 14: Run Meaningful Retrospectives 127
Infrequent Retros Lead to Poor Team Health 127
Scrum for the 2020s 135

Chapter 15: Kickoffs and Desk Checks: Reduce Ritualized Interruptions 137
How to Maintain Quality with Fewer Meetings? 138
Make Your Feedback Loops “Remote Native” 145

Chapter 16: Questions to Reimagine Your Tech Huddles 147
The What and the Why 148
Not a Zero-Sum Game 153

Chapter 17: Pair Programming: The Elephant in the Room 155
A Polarizing Topic 155
If It’s Fun for You, Pair by All Means 161

Chapter 18: Audit Trails from the Flow of Your Work 163
The “Just Ask” Pattern Breaks Down 163
Trails as the Most Frequent Form of Documentation 171

Chapter 19: Communicate Tech and Functional Design 173
An Agile Approach to Design 173
Simplify Communication Complexity 178

Chapter 20: Two Stable Pieces of Handbook Documentation 181
Being Agile About Documentation 181
Good Documents Reduce Guesswork 186

Chapter 21: Craft an Efficient Onboarding Process 189
Write Once, Run Many Times 189
Onboarding Efficiency = Team Efficiency 195

Part IV: Async-First Leadership 197

Chapter 22: The Async Leadership Mindset 199
The Tyranny of “The Way” 199
Make Time for the Essential Stuff 206

Chapter 23: Manage Your People with Care 209
Corrections in the Right Direction 209
Be the Bridge Between Your Team and Your Company’s Culture 216

Chapter 24: Set Up Your Team for Success 217
Design for Success 217
Your Virtual Workplace Needs Configuring 227

Chapter 25: Farm Tacit Knowledge in Your Company 229
Beyond Handbooks: Into Communities 229
From Team Knowledge to Company Knowledge 238

Part V: Navigate the Pitfalls 241

Chapter 26: The Great Hybrid Kerfuffle 243
People’s Preferences Are Heading Remote 243
Choice and Autonomy Are the Key Words 253

Chapter 27: The Async Island 255
Unpacking Organizational Inertia 255
While Being a Guerilla, Don’t Forget Advocacy 265

Chapter 28: Toxicity in the Virtual Workplace 267
Toxicity Builds: One Benign Step at a Time 267
As a Leader, Stay Vigilant 271

Part VI: Bring It All Together 273

Chapter 29: The Async-First Starter Kit 275
Five Stages of Sensible Defaults 275
A Team Shift, Owned by the Team 285

Chapter 30: A Brave New World of Work 287
Another World of Work Is Possible 289
It’s Time to Sign Off 295

Endnotes 297
Index 321

Sumeet Gayathri Moghe, Principal Product Manager at Thoughtworks, is an agile specialist with 20+ years of IT consulting experience. He has helped clients deliver new products and adopt agile ways of working in travel, payments, financial services, education, analytics, consulting, retail, and beyond. Moghe has always worked in distributed teams, and went “all-remote” in 2017, long before it was commonplace. He blogs about remote collaboration at asyncagile.org.

Additional information

Dimensions	0.76 × 7.00 × 9.13 in
Imprint	Addison-Wesley Professional
Format	gen
ISBN-13	09780138187538
ISBN-10	0138187533
Author	Sumeet Gayathri Moghe
BISAC	COM051430
Subjects	professional, higher education, Employability, IT Professional, Y-AN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, COM051430