Chapter 1: Async First, Default Public
2025.11.12If you ask a team that has just started remote collaboration what their biggest challenge is, nine times out of ten the answer will be "communication."
"It's so hard to reach people, I send a message and get no response for hours." "I'm in meetings all day and can't get any real work done." "So many things slipped by me, I always feel like I'm the last to know."
These complaints sound so familiar. They all point to a common root: we are trying to navigate a completely different collaboration environment using the communication logic of the office. We are like cheetahs used to running on land, suddenly thrown into the ocean. No matter how hard we paddle, we always feel overwhelmed.
In the office, the default mode of communication is "synchronous." You have a question, you walk over to a colleague's desk and tap them on the shoulder. You need a decision, you pull a few people into a meeting room, close the door, and discuss. The default mode of information flow is "private." Most discussions happen in one-on-one conversations and small meetings; information is naturally confined to the minds of the participants.
This "sync + private" model has operated in physical spaces for centuries, and we have long taken it for granted. But as discussed in the introduction, once the physical space is removed, its fragility is fully exposed. The ocean of remote collaboration needs a completely new set of survival rules. At the core of these rules are the two principles we will explore in this chapter: async first and default public.
This is not just an adjustment of work habits; it is a complete mental shift. It requires us to redefine efficiency, re-understand collaboration, and rebuild our relationship with information and with each other. This is hard, but once you master these new "swimming" techniques, you will experience unprecedented freedom and efficiency.
Saying Goodbye to "You There?": Shifting from Synchronous Communication to Asynchronous Collaboration
"You there?"
These two words are arguably the most controversial opening in the modern workplace. They haunt every instant messaging chat window like a ghost.
When you send "You there?", your subtext is: "Hey, drop everything you are doing, right now, and give me your attention. I have a question, and I need you to serve me immediately."
When you receive "You there?", your inner monologue might be: "Oh no, here we go again. I just got into the zone, the breakthrough was about to come, and now I'm interrupted again. What earth-shattering thing is it this time?" You have to stop your work, reply with a "Yeah," and then enter a long, uncertain wait for the other person to organize their thoughts and throw out the question that could probably have waited five minutes.
"You there?" is the most typical symptom of "sync dependency." Behind it is a deeply ingrained mindset: communication must be immediate, problems must be responded to instantly.
In the office, this mindset was rationalized by physical space. Interrupting someone seemed cheap -- just a few steps, a few words. We couldn't see the enormous cognitive cost of forcibly pulling someone out of deep work, then needing ten or more minutes to re-enter the zone. (Observational research on knowledge workers supports this point: in field studies of information workers, Gloria Mark and colleagues at UC Irvine found that it takes people on the order of twenty minutes on average to return to an interrupted task; see the CHI 2008 paper.) Psychologists call this state "flow" -- a feeling of complete immersion in an activity, the source of efficient creation and deep thinking. And synchronous communication is the most ruthless reaper of flow.
In the remote environment, we lost the constraints of physical space but amplified this sync dependency online. We expect messages to be "responded to instantly," problems to be solved immediately. We use flashing notifications, endless @mentions, and frequent video calls to slice everyone's time into fragments. We have nominally gained geographic freedom, but fallen into a deeper time prison -- we are expected to be "online" and "on call" forever.
What Is Asynchronous Collaboration?
To cure "sync dependency," we must embrace its opposite: asynchronous collaboration.
Asynchronous collaboration, simply put, separates the initiation of communication from its response. You can send information when it is convenient for you, and I can receive and respond when it is convenient for me. We do not need to be online at the same time for work to move forward smoothly.
This sounds simple, but behind it is a transformative idea: respecting everyone's time and focus is the prerequisite for maximizing the team's overall output.
A good asynchronous collaborator, when they have a question, does not simply toss out a "You there?" Instead, they do this:
- Provide complete context: They clearly describe the background of the problem. "Regarding the bug about user payment failure we discussed yesterday afternoon (this is the background)..."
- Describe their own attempts and findings: They show the effort they have already made. "I checked the server logs and found a 'signature error' message (this is the attempt and finding)..."
- State the specific question and expectation: They raise a clear, actionable question. "Could you please help me confirm whether the App Secret for the payment gateway we use was changed last Friday? (this is the specific question) If convenient, please let me know before end of day today so I can arrange the follow-up fix (this is the expectation)."
- Provide relevant links and materials: They attach all necessary reference information, such as board links, log screenshots, design documents, so the receiver doesn't have to "dig for relics."
A message with this complete structure and rich information is a truly professional asynchronous communication. Its subtext is: "Hey, I have a question, and I've done my best to research it. Now I need your help, but I don't need an immediate reply. Please review this information and give me guidance when it's convenient for you, after you finish your more important tasks."
When a receiver sees such a message, they can finish a block of deep work first, then process a batch of similar issues all at once. They don't need to go back and forth clarifying context -- all the information is clear at a glance. They can give a high-quality reply or even solve the problem directly.
The Misconception About Async: Async Is Not "Slow"
Many people's first misconception about asynchronous collaboration is that it equals "slow" or "inefficient."
"If it takes half a day to get a reply to a question, how can we get anything done?"
This is a classic mistake of confusing "response speed" with "resolution speed." Synchronous communication pursues fast responses, but often results in slow resolution. Because in the back-and-forth dialogue with incomplete information, a lot of time is wasted. Asynchronous communication, while its response may not be immediate, pursues one-shot high-quality resolution.
Imagine two doctor visit scenarios:
- Sync mode: You burst into the ER, shouting at the doctor, "Doc, my stomach hurts!" The doctor asks, "Where does it hurt?" You say, "Hard to tell, maybe the upper part." The doctor asks, "When did it start?" You say, "I forget, maybe yesterday?" ... This question-and-answer model is inefficient synchronous communication.
- Async mode: You walk into the clinic and hand over a detailed medical record: you describe the exact location of the pain, when it started, the type of pain, what medications you've taken, what tests you've done. The doctor reads the record, ponders for a moment, and directly gives a diagnosis and prescription. This is efficient asynchronous communication.
Asynchronous collaboration uses one-time "slow" communication in exchange for systematic "fast" progress.
Of course, this does not mean we should completely eliminate synchronous communication. It is still necessary and efficient in certain scenarios.
When Should You Choose Sync?
- Emergency firefighting: A major production failure, system downtime, financial loss occurring. In this case, you must immediately establish a synchronous communication channel (such as a voice channel or video conference) to gather all relevant people for quick decisions.
- Brainstorming on complex problems: When a problem has no clear solution and requires multiple perspectives and creative inspiration. For example, early planning for a new product, or the selection of a complex technical solution. Synchronous discussion can generate non-linear sparks of thought.
- Building interpersonal relationships: One-on-one communication between team members, welcome meetings for new hires, regular online team-building. The purpose of these activities is not to solve specific problems, but to build emotional connections and team cohesion.
Except for these few cases, the great majority of communication in our daily work should, and can, be done asynchronously.
How to Shift from Sync to Async?
The shift won't happen overnight; it requires deliberate practice and team consensus. Here are some actionable steps:
- Start with yourself, become a model of async communication: Stop sending "You there?". Every time you ask a question, follow the structured approach we described earlier, providing complete information. When others ask you asynchronously, give high-quality replies so they can feel the benefits of async.
- Establish the "priority" of team communication channels:
- High priority (sync): Phone, emergency video conference. Agree that these are used only when "the sky is falling."
- Medium priority (weak sync): Instant messaging (like Slack, Teams, Feishu). For daily, non-urgent quick Q&A. But set the expectation: no instant reply required, a delay of several hours is acceptable.
- Low priority (async): Project management tools (like Jira, Asana, Trello), document comments, email. For formal task communication, plan review, decision recording. This is the "main road" of daily work.
- Introduce "focus time": Encourage team members to explicitly mark large, uninterrupted blocks of "focus time" on their calendars. During these times, they can turn off all notifications and enter deep work. This sends a signal to the whole team: focus is sacred and inviolable.
- Regularly review communication efficiency: In team weekly meetings or monthly reviews, add an agenda item: "In what ways can our communication be improved this week?" Discuss problems caused by poor communication and find better async solutions together.
Freeing yourself from the anxiety of "You there?" is the first and most critical step toward the future way of working. It means you begin to treat the team's "total focus" as the most precious asset, and protect it in a more mature and professional way. This is not just for remote work, but for every creative mind to release its full potential in the optimal state.
Saturated Information Delivery: Don't Assume Others Know, Assume They Don't
In our team's collaboration-norms.md file, the first principle is: "Don't assume others know, assume they don't."
This sounds like a no-brainer, but in a remote collaboration environment, it is a blood-and-tears lesson we learned through countless misunderstandings, rework, and delays. It is the underlying fuel that makes "async first" work smoothly. If asynchronous communication is the pipeline, then saturated information is the water flowing through it. Without water, the pipeline itself is meaningless.
In the office, we often fall into a "curse of knowledge" -- we can hardly imagine what it feels like not to know something. Surrounded by physical space and informal "information seepage," we subconsciously think, "Everyone should know this."
- A product manager introduces the abbreviation "UGC" for a new feature in a meeting, assuming all engineers know it stands for "User-Generated Content."
- A senior engineer writes in a code comment: "Special handling here for historical data compatibility." They assume all future maintainers are clear on what that "history" is.
- A manager announces at a weekly meeting: "Next quarter's focus is on increasing user engagement." They assume everyone shares the same, clear definition of "user engagement."
In the office, these "assumptions" might be compensated for through timely questioning and clarification. But in the remote environment, they become lurking "information landmines." When you asynchronously send out a request with incomplete information, you are not saving time -- you are shifting the cost of explanation and clarification to everyone else in the future.
What Is Saturated Information Delivery?
Saturated information delivery means proactively providing an excess of complete contextual information in every communication, ensuring that any receiver, regardless of their background knowledge, can fully understand your intent without asking anyone else.
This is a "defensive communication strategy." You should write like a good programmer writes defensive code -- anticipating all potential points of ambiguity and confusion, and filling them in with clear text.
Let's look at an example (a composite scenario constructed for illustration).
[Unsaturated communication]
Xiao Wang (developer) @s Xiao Li (product manager) in the group: @Xiao Li Where is the requirements doc for that new feature? I can't find it.
What's wrong with this message?
- "That new feature" -- which one? The team may be working on several new features simultaneously.
- "Requirements doc" -- specifically what? PRD? interaction draft? prototype?
- "Can't find it" -- where were you looking? Shared drive? project management tool? chat history?
When Xiao Li sees this message, they may need to spend time recalling, guessing, or even asking Xiao Wang clarifying questions before locating the correct information. This process is wasted communication cost.
[Saturated communication]
Xiao Wang (developer) @s Xiao Li (product manager) in the group: @Xiao Li Hi, I'm about to start developing the [User Profile Redesign] feature (board card link: [link]).
I found the corresponding PRD document (v1.2) in the [Product Requirements] folder of our Feishu knowledge base. But in section 3.4, "Avatar Upload Logic," it mentions referencing the "latest Figma prototype" for interaction details, and I couldn't find the corresponding Figma link in the knowledge base.
I'd like to confirm:
- What is the link to the final Figma prototype for this feature?
- Is PRD v1.2 the final version? If not, where is the latest version?
Please provide these when you get a chance. Thanks!
Compare the two. What does this message provide?
A clear feature reference and board link: eliminates all ambiguity.
A clear path description: tells the other person what effort you have already made, and where you encountered the obstacle. This not only saves their time but also demonstrates your professionalism.
Section-specific questions: turns a vague "can't find the document" into a precise question about "section 3.4" and "Figma link."
Structured questions: lists your questions as points 1 and 2, so the other person can reply to each one clearly.
This is the power of saturated information delivery. It turns a communication from a "guessing game" into an "information handover." It might take you an extra three minutes to send, but those three minutes may save the entire team thirty minutes or more of ineffective back-and-forth.
Principles and Techniques for Saturated Delivery
To achieve information saturation, you need to deliberately practice an "external perspective" -- assume the person reading your message is a new member on their first day. They don't know the historical baggage, the interpersonal relationships, the jargon and abbreviations. How would you explain this to them?
- Use links more, use references less: Never just say "that document" or "that task"; always attach specific links. Links are signposts in the digital collaboration world. Use them well to let information jump freely across platforms and contexts, forming an interconnected knowledge network.
- Better to be wordy than to omit: If you're not sure whether a piece of background information is necessary, default to assuming it is. Writing one extra sentence of explanation is far more efficient than making someone spend ten minutes guessing. Remember our team's motto: "Better to annoy than to crash."
- Use screenshots and screen recordings: "A picture is worth a thousand words." When describing an interface bug or an operational flow, a well-annotated screenshot or a short screen recording (Loom and similar tools are great for this) communicates far more efficiently than long paragraphs of text.
- Define your terms: For terms that are frequently used but easily misinterpreted (e.g., "DAU," "average order value," "core module"), consciously define and clarify them in a public place (like the team knowledge base). When using these terms in communication, link to their definitions.
- Record the full decision-making process: The outcome of a decision is important, but the process -- what options we considered, what we discarded, why we ultimately chose this one -- is equally, if not more, important. In a remote environment, most people didn't attend the "meeting live" where the decision was made. If you only throw out a conclusion, they will feel confused and passive. Recording and publishing the complete context of a decision is itself the most efficient form of saturated information delivery. It not only tells "what" but explains "why," which is crucial for inspiring team members' autonomy and sense of ownership.
An Extreme but Classic Story About "Saturation"
At GitLab, a company known for being all-remote (its own positioning is "the world's largest all-remote company"), they have a famous practice: any employee, even the CEO, who wants to propose a change that affects the company must fully articulate their proposal, the rationale, the expected impact, and the alternatives they considered in a public "Merge Request." Then, any interested employee across the company can comment, question, or even object.
This process takes "saturated information delivery" to the extreme. It ensures every decision is made with the fullest information and the widest possible discussion. It may seem "slow," but it avoids the enormous friction and directional errors caused by information opacity.
Embracing saturated information delivery is fundamentally an expression of responsibility. It means you are willing to take responsibility for every piece of information you send, and to contribute your share to the team's overall communication efficiency. This is a shift in mindset from "communication is between two people" to "communication is the team's business." When everyone in your team starts to carefully tag and annotate every piece of information like a patient librarian, your collaboration efficiency will enter an entirely new level.
The Value of Public Channels: Let Information Flow, Let Consensus Emerge
We have discussed the "method" of communication (async first) and the "content" (information saturation). Now we need to discuss the "venue" of communication -- where should information flow?
In a traditional office, information flows chaotically. It happens on whiteboards in meeting rooms, in hallway chatter, in one-on-one private chat windows. This information is like dandelion seeds, scattered by the wind, landing and disappearing. Most knowledge exists as "oral history" stored in the minds of a few "old-timers."
This model is deadly in a remote environment. It quickly creates "information silos" and "power centers." Whoever has information has power. Team collaboration degenerates into a game based on "information asymmetry."
The only antidote to this predicament is: default public.
Default public means that the vast majority of team communication and information should happen in public channels or documents accessible to everyone. Private chats and private groups should be the exception, not the norm.
This principle sounds radical, even counterintuitive. We are used to "only speaking when there's something to say" and "only telling the relevant people." Why should we let those "irrelevant" people see our discussions?
The Fivefold Value of Public Channels
Breaking information barriers, enabling knowledge sharing
This is the most direct value. When a developer asks a question about database index optimization in a public technical channel, the asking, discussion, and eventual solution automatically become a "living document" available for everyone to learn from and search. Another developer from a different team, encountering a similar problem three months later, can find this valuable record through search without having to ask the same question again. The team's collective intelligence is deposited and accumulated through these public discussions, one by one.
Providing global context, fostering cross-boundary collaboration
When discussions involving product, development, QA, and operations all happen in public channels, everyone can build a more three-dimensional understanding of the project landscape.
A developer, seeing a product manager discussing a feature's marketing plan with operations, may realize that their current technical implementation cannot handle the expected concurrency, and raise an early warning.
A QA engineer, seeing developers discussing a technical trade-off, may identify overlooked edge cases from a quality assurance perspective.
A product manager, seeing customer service relaying a user complaint, may discover a user pain point they hadn't considered in their design.
This kind of "serendipitous discovery" and "cross-boundary inspiration" relies on "information seepage" in the office, but in remote environments, it can only be achieved through the deliberate creation of public information squares.
Accelerating new member onboarding
What is the hardest thing for a new member joining a team? Understanding the "unwritten rules," the "legacy decisions," the "insider jargon." In a default-public team, the best onboarding manual for a new member is to "lurk" -- read historical chat records, documents, and task cards. They can be a "digital archaeologist," quickly reconstructing the project's historical context and the team's collaboration culture. This is far more efficient than attending a few crammed orientation sessions.
Self-driven supervision and alignment
Publicness itself is an invisible but powerful force.
When a task's progress and a decision's discussion are exposed to the light, everyone becomes more careful in their speech and output. It encourages us to be more rigorous and thoughtful.
At the same time, it provides "environmental pressure" that allows team goals and rhythm to align spontaneously. When you see other projects advancing rapidly while your task is stalled, you naturally feel a sense of urgency. This transparent pressure from peers is far more effective than a manager's one-way reminder about progress.
Letting consensus "emerge" spontaneously
This is the highest-order value of "default public." Many times, a team's conflicts and friction stem from inconsistent understanding of goals and priorities. In an organization with opaque information, consensus must be "negotiated" top-down through endless meetings.
In an organization with fully flowing information, consensus often "emerges" spontaneously. Because when everyone has access to the same sufficient information (company strategy, user feedback, project resources, technical constraints), their judgment on "what is the most important thing right now" tends to converge.
Like in a fully transparent stock market, the price ultimately reflects all available information. In a fully transparent team, the right decisions and consensus naturally win out after sufficient discussion and debate.
How to Practice "Default Public"?
- Establish a clear channel structure: In your collaboration tools, create a series of public channels organized by project, topic, or team. For example:
#proj-user-profile(project channel),#tech-frontend(technical topic channel),#team-marketing(team channel),#general(general chat channel). Write a clear description for each channel stating its purpose. - Turn private conversations into public discussions: When someone asks you a question in a one-on-one private chat that has public value, consciously guide them: "That's a great question, would you mind posting it in the
#tech-frontendchannel? That way others can see our discussion too, and maybe they have even better ideas." This small act injects the DNA of "default public" into the team. - Embrace "over-communication": When you complete an important feature, fix a critical bug, update a core document, or just learn something interesting, proactively share it in the relevant public channel. Don't worry "will this bother people?" In an async-first environment, receivers have the right to decide when to read your message. Your sharing is adding bricks to the team's knowledge base.
- Record all decisions publicly: Every meeting must have minutes published in a public space. Every important decision should have a traceable document or task card recording its context and consequences. This ensures the transparency and traceability of decisions.
Where Are the Boundaries of Publicness?
Of course, "default public" does not mean absolute "total publicness." There is always information that is sensitive and not suitable for company-wide discussion. These exceptions typically include:
- Personal privacy and compensation: Matters involving individual performance reviews, salary, health conditions, etc.
- Highly sensitive business secrets: Company finances, fundraising, undisclosed strategic partnerships, etc.
- Intense personnel conflicts: Mediating in public might escalate the conflict.
Apart from these clear red lines, we should bravely push the scope of information disclosure to the edge of our comfort zone. Many things we think are "not convenient to make public" are often just our fear of uncertainty and inertia from traditional hierarchical thinking.
From "Need to Know" to "Allowed to Know"
In traditional organizations, the principle of information flow is "need to know." You only get information strictly related to your own job. This is a management philosophy based on "control" and "distrust."
In future organizations, the principle of information flow is "allowed to know." All information is open by default, unless there is a clear reason to keep it private. This is a management philosophy based on "empowerment" and "trust."
The shift from "need to know" to "allowed to know" is the most important step in building a culture of high autonomy and high trust. It means you believe that every member of the team is an adult who wants to make the right judgments. And the prerequisite for making good judgments is having sufficient information.
When you truly begin to practice "async first, default public," you will find that while the time you spend on "communication" itself seems to increase -- you need to write more detailed text, organize clearer structures, attach more complete links -- the time you spend on "waiting," "guessing," "clarifying," "reworking," and "attending ineffective meetings" decreases dramatically.
You are no longer an "information island," but a "node" in a vast neural network. You are both a consumer and a producer of information. The free flow of information, like blood, brings nourishment to every corner of the organization, filling the entire system with vitality and wisdom.
This is the transformation brought by "async first, default public." It is not just an upgrade of communication skills; it is a brand-new collaboration operating system. On top of this system, we can finally build the future work model we truly aspire to, one based on high autonomy and high trust.
Summary: Building the Collaboration "Operating System"
In this chapter, we delved into the two most fundamental principles of remote collaboration -- async first and default public. Together, these two principles form the core of what we call the "collaboration operating system." If the methodologies and tools discussed in subsequent chapters are the "applications" running on this system, then the mindset established in this chapter is the foundation on which everything else operates.
Let's recap the key points of this chapter.
Goodbye to "You There?"
- Core problem: The "sync dependency" of the traditional office model, in a remote environment, fragments focus, destroys flow, and breeds "performative work."
- Core philosophy: Asynchronous collaboration, i.e., separating the initiation and response of communication. Its essence is respecting everyone's time and focus as a prerequisite for maximizing the team's overall output.
- Key misconception: Async does not equal "slow." It uses one-time "slow" communication (providing complete context) in exchange for systematic "fast" progress (one-shot high-quality resolution).
- Action guide:
- Stop sending "You there?" and become a model of structured, information-rich asynchronous communication.
- Establish the priority of team communication channels, clearly distinguishing sync from async scenarios.
- Introduce and respect "focus time," protecting the team's most valuable cognitive resource.
Saturated Information Delivery
- Core problem: The "curse of knowledge" makes us subconsciously assume others share our context, which plants countless "information landmines" in a remote environment.
- Core philosophy: Saturated information delivery means proactively providing an excess of complete contextual information in every communication, ensuring any receiver can fully understand without asking further questions.
- Key principle: Practice "defensive communication" like writing defensive code, anticipating all potential points of ambiguity. Assume your reader is a new member on their first day.
- Action guide:
- Use links more, use references less.
- Better to be wordy than to omit.
- Use screenshots and screen recordings.
- Define common team terms.
- Record and publish the full decision-making process, not just the outcome.
The Value of Public Channels
Core problem: Relying on private "private" communication models (private chats and private groups) creates information silos, power centers, and team friction.
Core philosophy: Default public means that the vast majority of team communication and information should happen in public channels or documents accessible to everyone.
Fivefold value:
- Breaking information barriers, enabling knowledge sharing.
- Providing global context, fostering cross-boundary collaboration.
- Accelerating new member onboarding.
- Self-driven supervision and alignment.
- Letting consensus "emerge" spontaneously.
Action guide:
- Establish a clear structure of public channels.
- Consciously turn private conversations into public discussions.
- Embrace "over-communication" by proactively sharing your work and findings.
- Publish all meeting minutes and important decisions publicly.
The Mental Shift: From "Control" to "Empowerment"
Running through all the discussions in this chapter is a hidden thread: a fundamental shift in management philosophy -- from a logic based on "control" to a logic based on "empowerment."
Behind synchronous communication is the desire to control others' time. Behind asynchronous communication is the trust to empower others to manage their own time.
Behind information unsaturation is the laziness of shifting the burden of clarification to others. Behind information saturation is the responsibility to empower others to quickly understand and make judgments.
Behind default private is the desire for power to control information flow. Behind default public is an open mindset that empowers everyone in the team to participate in decisions and contribute wisdom.
This shift is difficult because it requires us to give up many old habits that made us feel "safe." For managers, it means letting go of the "seeing is believing" sense of control and learning to manage through trust and results. For every team member, it means taking on greater communication responsibility, transforming from a passive "information receiver" to an active "information hub."
But the payoff of this shift is enormous.
In a team that has truly embraced "async first, default public," you will see:
- Meetings dramatically reduced, large blocks of focused time becoming the norm, and the team's creativity greatly unleashed.
- New member onboarding speed and quality significantly improved, with them integrating into the team and starting to contribute value at an astonishing rate.
- "Information asymmetry" no longer an obstacle to team collaboration; cross-department and cross-timezone collaboration becomes seamless.
- Higher quality decisions, because they are based on more complete information and broader discussion.
Ultimately, and most importantly, the level of trust among team members reaches an unprecedented height. Because transparency is the best catalyst for trust. When everyone is confident they will not be misled by information or make mistakes because they "didn't know," they can truly let down their guard and devote all their energy to creating value.
Before moving on to the next part of this book, which explores the three pillars of "High Autonomy, High Trust, High-Quality Delivery," please take some time with your team to examine your current communication patterns. Are you still struggling in the quagmire of "You there?" Is your information still painstakingly transmitted between private islands?
Change starts with the next message you send. Try using an asynchronous method, providing saturated information, and posting it in a public channel.
This small step will be your team's great leap toward the future way of working.