# Asynchronous Communication FAQ with Cate Huston of DuckDuckGo | LinearB Blog

> Cate Huston (Director of Engineering at DuckDuckGo) joined the Dev Interrupted discord community to answer some frequently asked questions.

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Asynchronous Communication FAQ with Cate Huston of DuckDuckGo

# Asynchronous Communication FAQ with Cate Huston of DuckDuckGo

![Photo of Dan Lines](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/Dan_Lines_3fb5152de2?_a=BAVMn6ID0)

By [Dan Lines](https://linearb.io/blog/asynchronous-communication-ama#dan-lines)

|

December 2, 2020

![Group_1160_2_7f74503024](https://assets.linearb.io/image/upload/c_limit,w_2560/f_auto/q_auto/v1/Group_1160_2_7f74503024?_a=BAVMn6ID0)

After talking with me on the [Dev Interrupted podcast](https://devinterrupted.com/podcast/asynchronous-communication/) about Asynchronous Communication for remote teams, Cate Huston (Director of Engineering at DuckDuckGo) joined the Dev Interrupted discord community to answer some frequently asked questions. 

(_The exerts below came from the Friday Community AMA series hosted in the Dev Interrupted discord community for dev leaders. [You can join the community here](https://discord.gg/tpkmwM6c3g)._)

#### **Q: How does Asyc Comm create a more inclusive work environment?**

_Great question. A few things stand out:_

_– People can respond as they have time – this levels the playing field across timezones (and life commitments)._

_– People can think before they respond – better for those who don’t like to be put on the spot._

_– It’s self documenting. So many benefits here, but two: 1) no-one has to “take notes” and 2) it’s much harder to give the wrong person credit for someone’s idea if it was there first in writing._

#### **Q: You made a point during the podcast about the importance of having both a transient place (ex. slack) and a more permanent place(ex. Asana). Can you give an example of how you use each?**

_Totally. We use MM for our water cooler conversation, and short term coordination (e.g. looking for PR reviewers)._

_We use Asana for anything longer term and more important discussion – such as putting together project scopes, or discussing how to address a complex bug with varying options._

_If the answer to “will this matter later?” is “yes”, then it should go in the more permanent place._

#### **Q: We just started doing our Feature Review via Async. Do you have any tips for team members who are new to communicating asynchronously?**

_Totally it takes some getting used to, two things that help:_

_– framing the feedback and breaking it up – you don’t want detail feedback until the “thing” is structurally sound_

_– processing the feedback and coming back – the person requesting feedback needs to take the inputs, go through them all, and then come back saying they have done it and requesting the next round._

#### **Q: What qualities have you found to be good indicators for people who thrive in a remote environment?**

_I’m a strong believer that how people take feedback is a predictor of coachability, and generally a good thing to consider in hiring. Some remote specific things are: good written communication, ability to ask for help, good work habits / self discipline._

#### **Q: Do you run a daily stand-up with your team? If so, how does that work async?**

_🙈 not on my current team._

_On my previous team, yes. We were using Slack, and we used a tool called Geekbot._

_Everyone would get a ping when they logged on and answer:_

_– How they felt_

_– What they did yesterday_

_– What they hoped to do today_

_– Any blockers_

#### **Q: What is the biggest thing you think dev teams are getting wrong about remote work right now?**

_I think they have just shifted their regular work online, and missed the opportunity to reinvent how they work across the board._

_I understand doing that initially, I have so much empathy for the sudden shift to remote._

_But even with the good news about vaccines, it’ll be late in 2021 at the earliest before we come back to “normal”. Now is a great time to start making changes to improve the way things are._

_This is the time to get rid of all boring meetings!_

#### **Q: When is a synchronous meeting needed?**

_When it’s contentious_ 😜

_Synchronous meetings are great for arguments_

#### **Q: How do you know when to expect arguments?**

_When people have strong opinions, when there’s no clear right answer, when the stakes are high._

_Synchronous meetings are also good for team bonding, not every meeting has to be an argument._

_I think the main thing is where there is nuance that is going to be lacking in text based communication. So, anytime when how people feel is important._

#### **Q: Can you give an example of a good synchronous meeting?**

_Sprint planning. Because most sprint planning is pretty boring. If everyone agrees, it is dull._

_The real value of sprint planning is where people disagree._

_So you can break that kind of meeting up, do the boring bit in tech, and then have the more interesting part of the conversation synchronously._

_Cutting a 2h meeting to <1 hour is a huge win._

#### **Q: What tips do you have for helping new hires feel welcome and engaged in an distributed, async team?**

_I break it into: belonging and accomplishment._

_Accomplishment is easy – people want to feel like they are contributing._

_Belonging is harder, it’s making people feel welcome and psychologically safe._

_On our team we do “experiments”, and one of our things is that the previous new hire has to do an experiment for the next new hire._

_It generally involves coordinating something across the whole team. Examples so far:_

_– Having a 1:1 with everyone on the team._

_– Putting together a piece of advice for the new hire, one from each member of the team._

_– Putting together a list of projects that are good to learn from (about process, the way we run things, or just generally), each person on the team suggested one._

_Everyone also gets an “onboarding buddy”, whose job it is to foster a sense of accomplishment on the new hires first project._

_Overall I think it’s really important that the team see onboarding a new hire as a collective responsibility._

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