Scheduling

Async planning tips for remote tech teams

Read Time: 3 minutes

Updated: Oct 9, 2025

Planning is tough when your team’s spread across time zones, juggling multiple projects, and trying to stay focused between back-to-back calls. And in tech? It gets even more complicated. Engineers, designers, product managers, IT, QA—all working on different timelines, with different needs.

Async planning isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the only way remote tech teams can actually stay aligned without drowning in meetings. But getting it right takes more than just switching on “Do Not Disturb” and hoping for the best.

Here are 5 async planning tips that make it easier to align your team, cut calendar chaos, and actually get things done.

No credit card required

1. Keep tools simple and visible

Remote tech teams love tools—but when everyone’s using different ones, planning turns into detective work. Where’s the project scope? Did we finalize the sprint? Who’s updating the backlog?

The fix: Choose one place to track plans, decisions, and updates. Everyone should know where to look.

Your async planning hub might include:

Project goals and timelines
Open questions and blockers
Weekly updates or decisions
Links to relevant docs or specs

It could be a shared Notion page, Google Doc, or project board. Keep it public, easy to update, and lightweight. Your team will thank you.

2. Use async check-ins, not just meetings

Status meetings are often just one person talking while others half-listen. Async check-ins can do the same job—faster, and with fewer interruptions.

Try these formats:

Format	Pros	Cons
Slack thread update	Quick, searchable, transparent	Can get noisy in big channels
Notion or doc logs	Structured and easy to reference	Needs discipline to update
Short Loom video	Human touch, good for walkthroughs	Harder to skim or quote

The goal is to stay informed without stopping the work. If someone needs a deeper conversation, then book a 1:1—but don’t default to meetings for every update.

3. Plan with flexibility in mind

Deadlines matter. But in tech, priorities change—fast. Async planning gives you room to pivot when you need to.

That starts with flexibility around when and how planning happens. Doodle’s Group Poll makes it easy to find a time that works across time zones and roles. No endless email chains, just a quick vote.

You don’t need everyone to plan at the same time, either. Document the plan, let people review it on their schedule, and only meet when it truly adds value.

4. Include IT early in the planning process

In many companies, IT quietly holds the keys to getting things done. They know the tools, the limitations, and the team setup across departments.

Bring them into planning early—especially when you're coordinating across functions or onboarding new tools. They can help spot blockers, flag system limits, or suggest better ways to work across teams.

When IT isn’t looped in until the end, you risk rework, delays, and a lot of time lost in coordination. And no one has time for that.

5. Build in time buffers and async reviews

Not every piece of feedback needs to happen live. When you build async reviews into your schedule, you give people time to think—and reduce the back-and-forth.

Use Doodle’s Booking Page to let team members book 1:1s or planning sessions with leads on their own schedule. No more pinging each other to find a time that works.

Have clients or external partners? The Stripe integration on Booking Page means you can collect payments automatically when they schedule time with you.