Part 3: What is synchronous communication and why should one be frugal with it?

This is part three of our series on asynchronous and synchronous communication.

You’ll find part one [here] and part two [here].

By now, we’ve already established that the digital workplace isn’t all sunshine and rainbows — but synchronous death might just take the crown. Because just like at the office, it’s easy to waste ten minutes chatting about something that’s far from urgent — even in a digital workspace.

Minimizing synchronous communication to avoid synchronous death is key. Reducing real-time chatter and focusing on the task in front of you is crucial for productivity.

When you don’t have to respond to a message ASAP, your efficiency naturally increases. Of course, synchronous communication still has its place — for example, in urgent problem-solving.

To help you find the right balance, we’ve put together our do’s and don’ts of synchronous communication — so you can avoid falling victim to the sync trap.

Working across time zones has its challenges

It’s no exaggeration to say that synchronous communication can be tricky when:

Your colleagues are spread across multiple time zones
The time difference between coworkers is as much as nine hours

In practice, this means one person might just be starting their day while another is logging off. So how do you even have a video meeting like that? Tough one.

But wait… how do hospitals do it? They deal with shift work every day.

Ah! They have handover notes, documentation, and reports that track what’s been done.

Digital workplaces without a clear communication strategy default to synchronous communication. It makes sense — that’s how we’re used to communicating in person. But the result? Burnout or high turnover, as people struggle to balance work and personal life.

Sure, you could try solving it by hiring only within your own time zone — but that’s not a great strategy either. You’d limit your talent pool and lose the diversity of insight that comes with a global team.

If your product is global, it only makes sense that your team is too.

Overloaded and unproductive

Many remote teams rely on chat apps to stay in touch. You might think, “Why not just use email?” — to which I say: please don’t.

We’ve already covered why internal communication through email is a bad idea — trust me, I know this stuff.

Chat apps are great — and there are plenty of them: iMessage, Slack, Microsoft Teams, lynes, WhatsApp… you name it.

The problem with synchronous communication lies right there — in those green and red presence indicators.

When working remotely, we signal availability through status updates:

🟢 Available

🔴 Busy

The problem is that your status becomes a shackle.

When you’re green, you’re indirectly telling everyone, “I’m free, come talk to me.”

It turns into a binary world — green or red. But as we both know, real life isn’t that simple.

Apps like Teams and Slack have blurred this even more. Many assume they’re asynchronous, but in reality, they encourage constant low-level chatter.

According to RescueTime, the average Teams or Slack user spends only five minutes away from the app before opening it again. Usually to check a notification — or to make sure they haven’t missed anything.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that’s terrible for focus and mental health.

Spending your whole day in real-time conversations prevents you from ever reaching flow.

The result?

Lots to do — little done.

The “always available” culture that many companies promote leads to overloaded and unproductive teams.

Let’s leave the motto “Always ready” to the scouts.

When to use synchronous communication

Despite all its downsides, synchronous communication still plays an important role — when used for the right reasons.

Here’s when it makes sense:

1. Everyday social interaction

Remote work can feel isolating. The quick back-and-forth of chat is perfect for “coffee-break” conversations — talking about weekend plans or the latest show you’re watching. It builds culture and connection.

At lynes, we have dedicated chat channels where we (mostly me) discuss Melodifestivalen, Liverpool’s losses, and other random fun stuff — just like we used to at the office.

Sometimes, one message leads to a video chat. We have open video rooms we can jump into whenever we need face time — sometimes to solve problems, other times just to eat lunch together.

Video keeps that human connection alive.

2. Challenging discussions

Don’t hesitate to switch communication modes when needed.

If your point is getting lost in a long chat or email thread — pick up the phone.

If it’s not urgent, schedule a call later; if it is, suggest one right away. A short video meeting can add context and tone that’s easily lost in writing — especially for feedback or constructive criticism.

(And yes, imagine an asynchronous performance review… disaster waiting to happen.)

3. All-hands-on-deck situations

When things go wrong, you need to act fast. That’s when asynchronous communication goes out the window.

We, of course, use lynes for that — quickly starting a call, switching to video, sharing a screen, and looping in others within seconds. A crisis meeting in under ten seconds — hard to beat!

The flexibility and simplicity of lynes lets us focus on solving the issue, not fiddling with meeting links.

Strategies for effective synchronous communication

To avoid synchronous death, here are my best tips:

1. Avoid ad hoc meetings whenever possible

The odds of pulling off a productive last-minute meeting while working remotely are about the same as Degerfors beating Barcelona away.

Add multiple time zones to the mix, and it’s more like Degerfors getting two red cards in the first minute.

Plan your meetings well in advance. They should be structured, intentional, and meet clear criteria. If they don’t — send an email instead.

Productive meetings include:

Carefully chosen participants
A clear agenda
Defined goals and purpose
A start and end time
A concrete outcome or follow-up

Unproductive meetings include:

Unnecessary attendees
Vague or missing goals
No agenda
Repetitive topics
No clear follow-up

A well-planned meeting is worth ten poorly planned ones.

2. Respect each other’s time zones

If you’re spread across the globe, don’t schedule meetings at 6 AM for your U.S. teammates.

Use smart tools like Timezone to visualize your team’s working hours — and if finding a perfect time is impossible, rotate meeting slots so the same people don’t always get the short end of the stick.

3. Record your meetings

Large meetings can boost morale and strengthen company culture, but someone will always miss them — due to time zones, sick days, or vacations.

Record them, store them in a shared folder, and make sure everyone can access the playback. That way, you avoid information gaps and silos.

4. Invest in good video and audio quality

We’re living in the “Anders, we can see you but can’t hear you!” era — and poor quality can be costly.

It wastes time, derails focus, and drains energy. Make sure everyone working remotely has stable internet, a good webcam, and a high-quality headset.

How much time should you spend communicating synchronously?

In short — as little as possible.

Most of your workday should be spent in deep work.

Deep work = the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

When you can focus fully on your work without interruptions from chat pings or video calls, you’ll get more done — often the equivalent of two or three days’ worth of scattered work.

With effective strategies, it becomes easier to protect your focus.

Synchronous communication absolutely has its place in the digital workplace — but it should be the exception, not the rule.

At lynes, we aim for a maximum of one meeting per week per purpose — one team meeting, one project meeting, and one one-to-one.

That way, we minimize real-time communication and maximize time for deep work.

Alright — so we know synchronous communication has its role in the digital workplace.

But how should you use asynchronous communication effectively?