By Alex Silva in Remote Teams — Dec 9, 2024

Why I Don’t Use Scrum to Manage My Remote Team: A Better Way with Async Workflows

Managing remote teams has become increasingly common, and as a leader, it’s important to adopt the right processes that foster productivity, efficiency, and work-life balance. For many years, Scrum has been one of the go-to methodologies for managing development teams. However, as I gained experience in managing remote teams across various time zones, I realized that Scrum’s rigid structure and meeting-heavy framework no longer made sense.

Scrum often adds unnecessary overhead in the form of meetings and processes, which can actually hinder productivity rather than enhance it—especially when working remotely. In this blog post, I’ll explain why I moved away from Scrum and how I’ve replaced it with an asynchronous (async) workflow that has made my teams more productive, happier, and less burned out.

My Experience Using Scrum

Early in my career, I used Scrum extensively. It was the default methodology that everyone seemed to embrace, so I followed suit. Scrum felt like a natural way to manage tech projects. We had:

Sprint planning meetings
Daily standups
Sprint reviews
Retrospectives
And, of course, backlog grooming sessions

At first, Scrum appeared to be a solid framework for structuring work, tracking progress, and delivering results. But over time, I started seeing problems, particularly when managing remote teams spread across different time zones.

The Meetings Overload

Let’s break down the typical Scrum meetings:

Sprint planning: 1.5 hours
Daily standups: 15 minutes a day, which adds up to 2.5 hours per two-week sprint (10 days).
Backlog grooming: 2 hours
Sprint retrospective: 2 hours

That's a total of 8 hours of meetings for each team member, per sprint. And it doesn’t stop there—meetings often overran, or led to follow-up meetings to "close things off." In reality, we were losing even more time.

For remote teams, this presents a significant problem. Developers need large blocks of uninterrupted time for deep work. When you factor in time zone differences, scheduling meetings that work for everyone becomes an even bigger challenge. This meeting-heavy culture quickly becomes a bottleneck for productivity.

The Challenges of Using Scrum in Remote Teams

1. Time Zone Issues

One of the major hurdles I faced when using Scrum to manage remote teams was coordinating meetings across different time zones. Developers spread across the globe often had to attend meetings outside their regular working hours, which disrupted their daily rhythms and impacted their focus.

2. Meeting Fatigue

Even if you manage to schedule meetings that suit everyone, the sheer number of meetings can lead to "Zoom fatigue." Spending hours in meetings each week not only drains energy but also takes time away from actual work. For remote teams, this is even more detrimental because they lose out on the freedom and flexibility that remote work should provide.

3. Scrum Isn’t Designed for Async Work

The fundamental problem with Scrum is that it isn’t compatible with asynchronous workflows. Scrum relies heavily on synchronous communication and real-time collaboration. Forcing remote teams to work synchronously often means delaying progress while waiting for meetings to occur.

Shifting to an Async-First Workflow

Recognizing these challenges, I decided to shift away from Scrum and adopt an asynchronous-first workflow. The goal was simple: minimize meetings and allow team members to focus on their tasks without constant interruptions.

Here’s how I did it.

1. Replace Meetings with Async Processes

The first step was to cut down on meetings. Instead of having daily standups, sprint planning meetings, and retrospectives, I replaced them with asynchronous updates using collaborative tools like Notion and Slack. These tools allow team members to:

Provide daily updates asynchronously via written messages, which everyone can read when it suits their schedule.
Share feedback on work without requiring live meetings.
Plan and document each phase of the project using a shared collaborative document.

By switching to async processes, my team now works at their own pace, without the need for constant real-time communication.

2. Structure Work Around Business Goals, Not Arbitrary Sprints

Scrum forces all work into rigid two-week sprints. However, not all tasks fit neatly into this framework. Some features take just a few days, while larger initiatives may take weeks or months to complete. I found that this rigid cycle often led to artificial deadlines and unnecessary pressure.

Instead, I structured work around clear business goals rather than arbitrary sprints. Here’s the process I follow:

Why: Define the clear business case for each project or feature.
What: Identify the specific feature or deliverable that addresses the business case.
How: Plan the technical approach, taking into account tradeoffs and feasibility.
Who: Determine which team members or resources are needed to complete the task.
When: Set a realistic timeline for delivery.

These five questions guide all of our projects, and we document the answers in a Notion template that everyone can access and update asynchronously. This eliminates the need for real-time brainstorming meetings and allows for clear, goal-oriented work.

3. Avoid Synchronous Brainstorming

In Scrum, sprint planning often involves bringing the entire team into a meeting to brainstorm and decide on tasks for the sprint. I found this to be highly inefficient, especially in remote teams. Instead, I break down brainstorming into asynchronous discussions. Each stakeholder contributes to the discussion at their own pace, and the information is consolidated in a shared document.

Only when there are complex trade-offs or key decisions to be made do we schedule a synchronous meeting to resolve these issues quickly and commit to a plan.

4. Focus on Deep Work and Minimize Interruptions

One of the key benefits of async workflows is that they allow for deep work—the ability to focus on complex tasks without constant interruptions. In my experience, Scrum’s daily standups and frequent meetings created too many interruptions for developers who needed uninterrupted time to write code, solve problems, and build features.

By moving away from daily standups and planning meetings, we’ve significantly reduced interruptions. Team members can now structure their days in a way that works best for them, leading to higher quality work and fewer mistakes.

5. Track Progress Without Micromanagement

In traditional Scrum, progress is tracked using velocity (the amount of work completed per sprint), burn-down charts, and other metrics. While these metrics are useful, they can sometimes lead to micromanagement and pressure to meet arbitrary sprint goals.

In my async-first workflow, we focus on tracking progress through key deliverables rather than sprint-based metrics. Each project has clear milestones, and team members are responsible for updating their progress asynchronously. This allows us to track the completion of tasks without the need for constant check-ins or micromanagement.

Benefits of Switching to an Async Workflow

1. Increased Productivity

By cutting down on meetings and allowing for more deep work, productivity has skyrocketed. Each team member has the flexibility to structure their day in a way that suits their workflow, resulting in higher-quality output and faster delivery times.

2. Better Work-Life Balance

In remote teams, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential. Async workflows allow team members to work at their own pace and avoid having to attend meetings at odd hours. This leads to happier, more engaged employees who are less likely to burn out.

3. Faster Project Delivery

Without the constraints of Scrum’s rigid sprint cycles, we’re able to deliver projects faster. Small features can be shipped as soon as they’re ready, and larger initiatives aren’t forced into arbitrary deadlines. This flexibility allows us to move quickly and adjust to changing business needs.

When Do I Still Use Meetings?

While my async-first workflow significantly reduces the need for meetings, there are still cases where meetings are necessary. For example:

When complex trade-offs need to be discussed: If there are multiple technical approaches with significant implications, a synchronous discussion helps resolve issues quickly.
When team alignment is crucial: Occasionally, I’ll hold live meetings to ensure everyone is aligned on key objectives or project milestones.

However, these meetings are the exception rather than the rule. We use them sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.

Conclusion: Moving Beyond Scrum to a More Productive Workflow

Scrum can be a useful framework for some teams, but for remote teams, its meeting-heavy and synchronous nature can become a bottleneck. By shifting to an async-first workflow, I’ve been able to reduce meetings, increase productivity, and improve the work-life balance of my team members.

My teams now focus on deep work, clear business goals, and async collaboration—all of which have led to faster project delivery and happier employees. If you’re managing remote teams and finding that Scrum isn’t working, consider adopting an async-first approach. It could be the key to unlocking your team’s full potential.