The Async-First Playbook: Remote Collaboration Techniques for Agile Software Teams

Reimagining Agile for Distributed and Remote Teams

Distributed work is now inevitable, but conventional agile approaches are too “synchronous” for today’s remote teams. Meetings, ceremonies, and rituals can become unsustainable when teams are scattered across the globe. The result: burnout, constant interruptions, a lack of deep work, poor work-life balance, greater frustration, and workplaces with poor diversity.

In The Async-First Playbook, Thoughtworks Principal Product Manager Sumeet Gayathri Moghe provides tools and techniques to embed remote-native, asynchronous practices into traditional agile methods, making remote work more efficient, inclusive, thoughtful, and fun.

Drawing on extensive experience leading distributed teams, Moghe addresses the “nuts and bolts” of specific practices and the crucial “softer” elements such as culture, mindset, and leadership. Short, practical chapters show how to adapt traditional agile techniques such as sprints and pair programming for the realities of today’s distributed environments. Whatever your project, you’ll learn how to create asynchronous environments that promote success, improve the workplace experience, and deliver better results.

• Discover why asynchronous collaboration is crucial to your project’s success
• Learn the tools, skills, and protocols you need to get right in order to go “async-first”
• Map current agile techniques to async-first versions that better reflect today’s realities
• Become a more supportive and effective leader of async-first teams
• Anticipate, navigate, and mitigate the pitfalls of async-first distributed work
• Bring it all together–walk through your async-first transition
• Access valuable resources, examples, and hands-on templates at the companion website

“This playbook will empower you to lead and build differently. All that you need is an open mind and a belief that the status quo isn’t worthy of defining the future.”
–From the Foreword by Darren Murph

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