How to Reduce Collaboration Waste

⚡ Employees with fewer than 2 hours of workday overlap with close collaborators take 3x longer to respond to messages. That’s not just an inconvenience...it’s a breakdown in collaboration efficiency. The shift to distributed and asynchronous work has fundamentally changed how teams operate, but the data reveals serious challenges: 📉 Low workday overlap = decision-making bottlenecks. When employees have limited shared working hours, response times lag, project cycles slow down, and real-time collaboration becomes near impossible. 💬 After-hours messaging isn’t a solution—it’s a problem. Employees who receive 15+ Slack messages after-hours report higher burnout and disengagement levels, showing that async work needs structure, not just flexibility. 🤝 Teams that fail to maintain strong cross-functional connections are 30% more likely to experience collaboration breakdowns. Lack of structured interactions leads to knowledge gaps, missed handoffs, and duplicated work. How do we optimize async collaboration without sacrificing speed and effectiveness? ✅ Set Clear Collaboration Hours 🔹 High-performing hybrid teams structure 2-3 hours of daily overlap for synchronous work. 🔹 This ensures essential decisions happen without forcing unnecessary meetings or 24/7 Slack availability. ✅ Leverage AI for Smarter Async Workflows 🔹 Automated note-taking & meeting recaps help reduce redundant calls. 🔹 Threaded Slack conversations (vs. direct messages) allow for flexible, non-disruptive collaboration. 🔹 Clear response expectations—not all messages need an instant reply. ✅ Monitor & Strengthen Network Health 🔹 Employees with fewer than 3 strong collaborations per week are at higher risk of disengagement. 🔹 Use ONA to identify disconnected teams and reinforce strategic connections. ✅ Rebalance Synchronous & Asynchronous Work 🔹 Target 30-60% async collaboration (document sharing, Slack threads, project boards) to protect focus time. 🔹 Cap meetings at 30 minutes and default to async updates when possible. 🔹 Monitor meeting-to-focus ratios—teams spending over 60% of their time in meetings struggle to execute effectively. Collaboration isn’t just about where we work...it’s about how we work. Want more collaboration insights? Make sure to check the comments for our full report. What strategies is your team using to optimize async collaboration? #PeopleAnalytics #HRAnalytics #Collaboration #HybridWork #FutureOfWork

We recently overhauled how we collaborate at Stytch. Everyone canceled all their meetings and rebuilt their calendars. As a hybrid team, it's easy to default to death by a thousand 1-1s. While 1-1s certainly have their place, we found that people's days were overwhelmed with meetings and many of those were siloed conversations resulting in inefficient use of time. We wanted to create more time in everyone’s day for heads down time, impromptu meetings or huddles to get alignment in order to improve the efficiency and speed with which we’re making decisions. While we’ve always had a really strong culture of docs, we’ve been much weaker on async quick collaboration, namely our usage of Slack. For context, “Slack [the company] sends 70% [of messages] in public channels, 28% in private channels and just 2% in direct messages.” At Stytch our stats before this were: 17% in public channels, 6% in private channels, and a whopping 76% in direct messages!! Here's the tldr of what we're doing: • Default monthly for manager/direct report 1-1s, adjustable as needed • Managers should have 2-4 hours of unscheduled time per day for ad hoc conversations and async collaboration • If a meeting doesn’t have an agenda the night before, cancel it • Prefer group meetings over 1-1s to prevent having to play telephone or have the same conversation repeatedly • Move to more frequent, shorter meetings, like a biweekly stand up instead of a weekly hour long meeting to allow for more timely decision making • Move more conversations to Slack, especially public channels • Slack isn’t always the right tool, if your thread looks like a CVS receipt, either move to a 1 pager or ad hoc sync Instead of 8+ hours of back to back meetings everyday, now I have down time to post more on linkedin!!! JK I timed this and it took me 10 mins. But it is remarkable how much my days have changed, I can give much more timely feedback and dig into things more in depth. We’re just two weeks but excited to see how this experiment goes over the next couple months!

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆—𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲? I came across a great post by Dr Milan Milanović discussing how 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟯 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 (link below). That might not sound like much, but in a typical workday filled with 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝗽—𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁. Now, imagine this: 🔹 A manager asks a developer to “𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝟯𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀” to review something or join a quick sync. 🔹 The task itself might indeed take 30 minutes, but 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿. 🔹 The developer loses focus, takes time to regain their mental model, and suddenly 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 “𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸” 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. For those working on complex architectures, debugging critical issues, or designing system-level software, deep focus isn’t optional—it’s a necessity. But constant disruptions make meaningful work almost impossible. 𝗔 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? 🔹 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀—Instead of pulling people into random syncs, set dedicated slots where teams can clarify open points. 🔹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲—Not every issue is urgent. Let people get into flow instead of expecting instant responses. 🔹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀—Before scheduling a meeting, ask: Could this be an email or a written update instead? 🔹 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 “𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸”—A 30-minute task might mean an hour of lost productivity. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀: Protect your focus. Some simple but powerful habits: ✅ 𝗠𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀—Don’t let every message break your flow. ✅ 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 & 𝗜𝗠𝘀—Pick a time slot to respond, rather than reacting instantly. ✅ 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱—Push back (politely) when something can wait. ✅ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀—Focus is your most valuable resource. 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. Let’s be intentional about how we collaborate. Have you experienced the impact of “just 30 minutes”? Let’s discuss. #SoftwareDevelopment #Productivity #DeepWork #EngineeringCulture #Leadership #WorkplaceEfficiency #Collaboration #FocusTime #TechLeadership

People who know me know one of my quirks: I dislike Zoom meetings and avoid them like a dentist chair. I go through my calendar every Sunday night and remove myself from as many meetings as possible (sorry!). Why? Because these mediums can (without a lot of vigilance) make teams less collaborative, less creative, and zap their productivity. They can turn what used to be energizing and engaging work into something that feels like mush — and I am a big believer in remote work and technology (not a luddite, I swear). But ask yourself:  - Is your calendar packed with back-to-back Zooms? - How does that make you feel? - Do your Zooms have the “feel” of structure but somehow lack substance? - What were the moments that led to the highest quality work you have done in your career? - When do you feel most alive and engaged in your work? If you’re like me, days of wall-to-wall Zooms turn your work into mush you dread. So recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to reclaim time, drive outcomes, and increase collaboration: selfishly for myself, and more importantly for the teams I work with. Here are a few things I've been experimenting with: (1) Pushing 80% of my Zoom meetings to be “team creates a work product together on the screen” vs “team presents slides and talks about them”. You know this is working when you leave the meeting and have produced a work product together that will get used. (2) Reviewing work outside of Zoom, asynchronously, so the discussions can be streamlined. “Hey, can you send me the slides and I’ll give you a call?” “Hey, can you send the slides now so we can come to the meeting with our questions to discuss?” This shifts the group's focus to getting better outcomes vs showing off cool slides to one another. (3) Making decisions outside of Zoom meetings. “Hey, can we hop on the phone and discuss X decision?” I find that 30-minute or 60-minute Zooms often can be converted into 5 minutes of readings and 5-10 minute phone calls. (4) Ditching the slick deck and “just put it in a doc.” The thing about slides is that they make it too easy to cover up thin work with pretty design. I’m trying to remove this crutch more and more by asking teams to just “put it in a doc”. When it’s just the words on a page, you can see where things stand. How does this all work in practice? My litmus test is seeing how much time in a day I’ve spent doing the things that are most important for the company or project. What did I accomplish on my list? If the answer is not very much, I know I haven't been successful in taking agency over my time. This is a work in progress for me. How are you reclaiming your calendar so that you can do your best work?

Project managers who struggle with team alignment aren't using AI correctly. I watched a team spend 6 hours weekly in status meetings when AI could capture and distribute the same information in minutes. Smart project managers use AI collaboration tools to: 1. Automate meeting transcription and action item tracking 2. Create single-source dashboards that update in real-time 3. Facilitate asynchronous decisions with AI-summarized context A client implemented these changes last month. Team alignment immediately improved. Meeting time was cut in half. The gap widens daily. Connected teams leverage AI for collaboration while others drown in communication overhead.