Feature requests, roadmap discussions, user feedback, design reviews.
#incidentsHigh Priority
Production issues, outages, security alerts. Notifications enabled for on-call team.
#standup
Daily async standups: What I did, what I'm doing, blockers. Posted by EOD in each person's timezone.
#watercooler
Non-work chat, hobbies, memes, weekend plans. Builds team culture without interrupting work channels.
Async Standup Template
Post daily in #standup. Replace meetings with written updates.
📅 Standup — [Your Name] — [Date]
✅ Done yesterday:
• [Task/PR completed]
• [Meeting outcome or decision made]
🔨 Working on today:
• [Current focus area]
• [Expected deliverable]
🚧 Blockers:
• [None / Describe blocker + who can help]
💡 FYI:
• [Optional: anything the team should know]
RFC (Request for Comments) Template
Use for decisions that need input from multiple people. Replaces "let's schedule a meeting to discuss."
# RFC: [Title]
**Author:** [Name]
**Date:** [Date]
**Status:** Draft | Open for Review | Decided
**Decision deadline:** [Date — give 3-5 business days]
## Context
What's the situation? Why does this need a decision?
## Proposal
What do you propose? Be specific.
## Alternatives Considered
What other options exist? Why is this proposal better?
## Impact
Who/what is affected? Risks? Dependencies?
## Open Questions
What are you unsure about? What input do you need?
## Decision
[Filled in after review period ends]
Decided by: [Name] on [Date]
Rationale: [Brief explanation]
Async Communication Best Practices
Write it down
If it's not written down, it didn't happen. Document decisions, context, and reasoning — not just outcomes.
Set response time expectations
Define SLAs per channel: #incidents = 15min, #engineering = 4hr, #product = 24hr, email = 48hr.
Protect focus time
Encourage "Do Not Disturb" blocks (2-4 hour windows). Batch notifications. No expectation of instant replies on async channels.
Use Loom over meetings
Record 3-5 minute videos for demos, code walkthroughs, and updates. Viewers watch at 2x speed on their own time.
Link, don't repeat
Reference existing docs instead of re-explaining. Keep a single source of truth for decisions and specs.
Use @mentions intentionally
@channel = everyone must read. @here = only online people. @person = specific action needed. Default to no tag.
Meeting Audit — What Can Go Async?
Meeting Type
Async Alternative
When Sync is OK
Daily standup
Written update in #standup
Team has active blockers needing discussion
Status updates
Weekly written summary + dashboard
Never — always async
Code review
PR comments + Loom walkthrough
Complex architecture decisions
Sprint planning
Pre-written proposals + async voting
First sprint with new team
Retrospective
Async retro board (FunRetro, EasyRetro)
After major incidents
Design review
Figma comments + Loom recording
Initial concept exploration
1:1s
Keep synchronous
Always — relationship building
All-hands
Recorded video + Q&A doc
Major announcements, quarterly
Brainstorming
Async ideation (Miro board, FigJam)
Time-boxed creative sessions
Recommendations for Your Team
Based on your startup with ~5 team members
With a small team, keep it simple: one messaging tool (Slack/Discord), one doc hub (Notion), and one PM tool (Linear/Trello). Default to async standups in a shared channel. Keep only 1:1s and weekly sync as recurring meetings.