While we default to asynchronous ways of working, we also value synchronous communication for some things. We mostly use Zoom for this.

<aside> ℹ️ Read more about how we use Zoom at Oyster 👉 Zoom

</aside>

Untitled

As a distributed team spread across the world, running synchronous meetings can be a challenge. To overcome this, we need to think very carefully about what we're trying to achieve with a meeting. If we can achieve a similar result without taking up precious synchronous time, we should do that instead.

<aside> 💡 The golden rule is: maximize the value of every minute of synchronous meeting time.

</aside>

Asynchronous or Synchronous meeting flowchart (double-click to enlarge)

Asynchronous or Synchronous meeting flowchart (double-click to enlarge)

🔄 Asynchronous "Meetings"


It's common for teams to use meetings for things like status updates, announcements and quick tutorials. These all tend to work just as well via an asynchronous "meeting" because the goal is to convey information rather than interact in a social setting.

At Oyster, we aim to run weekly team "status meetings" asynchronously.

Team status update async "meeting"

It's also possible to run other meetings (or parts of them) in the same way. We'll talk more about this below.

📆 Using your calendar effectively


Using calendars effectively is incredibly important. For some basic guidelines, check out the guide below.

Using your calendar effectively