Async Work

Also called Asynchronous Work

Working in a way that does not require everyone to be online at the same time, relying on written communication and documentation so people contribute across time zones and schedules.

Why it matters

Async work is what makes distributed teams effective, trading real-time meetings for clear writing and records. It suits deep work and global teams, but requires discipline in documentation that many teams underestimate.

For example

A team spread across three time zones writes detailed docs and decisions in Notion, so work moves forward without everyone being online at once.

Go deeper

Asynchronous communication for remote work The GitLab Handbook · article This is the operating manual behind the answer's core rule: don't run a remote team on vibes. GitLab runs 1,600+ people across 60+ countries entirely on written, handbook-first, async-default communication, and this page hands you the exact norms to copy from your first hire: document the decision not just the outcome, put questions in a public channel instead of a DM, and treat working-hours overlap and response time as explicit agreements. It is the rare playbook written by a company that actually lives it at scale, so you can lift the practices wholesale into a three-person team. Open handbook.gitlab.com →

Related terms

Also in Starting Up

See how founders actually handle this on Co-founders, team and legal, part of the Starting Up hub.

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