I’ve worked in several remote-only companies. Some companies do this really well. But others completely fail to adopt best practices for remote work. Too much information flows through meetings. If you’re not in the right call at the right time, you miss out on important context and decisions. Most decisions happen in real-time, and for those working off-hours i.e. in different timezones, it means they either have to work early mornings or late evenings or they get left out of the “decision loop”.

Remote (aka distributed) work isn’t supposed to be like that.

Remote work is supposed to be about flexibility, autonomy, and the ability to focus on meaningful work without being tied up in meetings all throughout the day. When a company doesn’t embrace sensible remote practices, it ends up being a frustrating, inefficient mess. And one of the biggest culprits: Synchronous-first communication.

I’ve seen remote teams work really well. The best ones don’t rely on meetings as their primary way of communicating. The best ones write things down or record videos and then share them either openly in common channels or if need be in private messages. They document conversations and decisions and leave pieces of useful information for later review and revisit. They give people time to process information and to respond thoughtfully in writing instead of expecting instant reactions in face-to-face situations.

The teams that do this well communicate better and work much more efficiently. They make fewer rushed decisions. They generally produce higher-quality work as they don’t get constantly distracted. This fosters an environment where focus and craftsmanship thrive. And as a bonus: When new colleagues join their team, they have access to almost all the conversations and decisions of the past.

Naturally, face-to-face meetings are still important. They’re great for building relationships, for brainstorming, for getting quick feedback, and for making decisions that require a lot of back and forth. But they should be the exception, not the rule.

I strongly believe that if a company wants to be truly remote, it has to stop treating meetings as the default. However, this is a culture change and shifting from a meeting-heavy culture to an async-first mindset isn’t easy. It requires leadership support and organizational commitment. People have to start asking themselves and each other: Does this need to be a meeting? More often than not, the answer is ‘no’.

Shifting to async-first also requires a structured approach to how, when and where to communicate asynchronously. Synchronous communication can be very efficient when used with care and should not by any means be abolished entirely.