Definition: Asynchronous Communication is a data transmission technique that does not require the sender and the receiver to be synchronized in their schedule. This communication method allows the sender to transmit data regardless of the receiver’s availability.
What Does Asynchronous Communication Mean?
It is a term most frequently employed in telecommunications to describe a method of data transmission that doesn’t require the recipient to be available to receive the information at the time of the transfer, instead, the sender can transmit the information in different unsynchronized intervals and the receiver will collect it to access it later on. In terms of communication channels, this technique is often employed in e-mails and text messaging, where the receiver’s availability is not required for the message to be delivered.
In the business world, asynchronous communications have increased productivity dramatically, since messages and information can be exchanged between different time zones and data can be accessed quicker than ever. Companies that operate in different parts of the world find this type of communications particularly useful.
On the other hand, since the recipient is not necessarily available by the time the information is sent, this can led to procrastination and endless avoidance, unless there is a confirmation message that allows the sender to verify the reception of the data transmitted.
Example
Lorenz Arcade LLC is a company that owns more than 50 arcade games facilities all over the country. They frequently locate their facilities in big shopping malls but the headquarters are located outside a big U.S. city. Since malls have many different opening and closing hours, the headquarter is not always available for the Branch Managers.
If a problem arises during offline headquarter hours, asynchronous communication allows Managers to communicate the issue, either by e-mail or the company’s intranet, to obtain a proper solution within the next 24 hours. This technique serves the purpose of keeping the headquarter quickly updated about situations happening all around the country so they can identify the issues and deal with them accordingly.
