Part 1: What do all day Zoom meetings and CDROMs have in common?
Part 2: How does Basecamp do it?
Part 3: How does Automattic do it?
Part 4: How does Linux do it?
There is no “Now”
“Now" is often the wrong time to say what just popped into your head. It's better to let it filter it through the sieve of time. What's left is the part worth saying.”
Basecamp abolishes the notion of 'Now', ‘Immediate’ and 'ASAP'. We need to understand that the immediate is often the worst time to share thoughts, as our mental processes are underdeveloped. Letting what popped into our heads ‘Now’ "filter through the sieve of time", would help greatly in communicating the point more concisely, articulately, and with the least risk of error or offence. The second thing we need to clarify, is the superiority of asynchronous over real-time communication. "Chat dissolves, while writing solidifies". Zoom meetings are classic examples of chat sessions, where important points and actions are lost through chatter and catch-up. Writing takes longer, feels more distant, and has become almost a last-resort for many, but it brings to the table much more than it takes away, and is the method Basecamp uses and recommends. In with the old, out with the new.
Long form writing over Meetings
“Eight people in a room for an hour doesn’t cost one hour; it costs eight hours.”
Basecamp prefers long-form writing as a method of communication allows for better quality relations where things are thought through far more carefully than if they were verbally transmitted. It also happens to be far more inclusive and benefits everyone - especially those who cannot make a meeting due to time or internet restrictions. Communication shouldn’t require schedule synchronization. Writing instead of meeting is more direct, and is independent of any kind of schedule. Furthermore, this kind of communication allows deeper discussions and conversations to develop and ‘sink in’, prior to judgement being made. Real-time meetings where calls to action are expected to be resolved immediately often result in rushed decisions.
Centralized communication
“There may not be a perfect time, but there's certainly a wrong time.”
Basecamp also has a solution for company-wide announcements; they don’t send emails or have fragmented meetings, instead, they use a centralised ‘message board’ where all employees can see and hear the same thing. This is crucial in upholding consistency, as no information is altered via different communication channels; nothing is lost and nobody is left out. Replacing live meetings with public written updates saves dozens of hours a week and affords people larger blocks of uninterrupted time, affording them good stretches of time to immerse themselves in work - which is crucial in order to allow employees to complete a ‘proper’ job. If this is not achieved, people are left scrounging for focused time, and are forced to squeeze project work in between all the other nonessential, yet mandated, things they’re expected to do. Meetings break time into “before” and “after.”
Further Reading
https://basecamp.com/remote-resources
https://m.signalvnoise.com/how-we-structure-our-work-and-teams-at-basecamp/
